Romania and Belgium dismiss talks of settling for draws against Slovakia and Ukraine

Romania coach Edward Iordanescu brushed aside the suggestion his team and Slovakia would play for a mutually beneficial draw in Wednesday’s final European Champions Group E encounter while Belgian coach Domenico Tedesco said his team will be going all out for a win against Ukraine.

“We can’t control what people talk about, but we have full concentration on the game tomorrow,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“We are playing to qualify and we do want to finish first. If we win the group, at least theoretically, you have a certain advantage in terms of extra rest days and a (weaker) opponent.

Fixtures, results and standings

GROUP E	Romania, Ukraine, Belgium, Slovakia	Venue
June 17 – 16.00	Romania 3 Ukraine 0	Munich
June 17 – 19.00	Belgium 0 Slovakia 1	Frankfurt
June 21 – 16.00	Slovakia 1 Ukraine 2	Dusseldorf
June 22 – 22.00	Belgium 2 Romania 0	Cologne
June 26 – 19.00	Slovakia v Romania	Frankfurt
June 26 – 19.00	Ukraine v Belgium	Stuttgart

STANDINGS

Romania 3, Belgium 3, Slovakia 3, Ukraine 3

“But the most important thing is to qualify, this is our main objective. This is a historic moment for the national team, a moment that is special and the greatest moment in our careers.”

Romania brushed aside Ukraine 3-0 in their opening pool game but lost 2-0 to Belgium in their second. Slovakia, Iordanescu believes, will be a very challenging opponent too.

“Slovakia are one of the best organised teams at this tournament,” he said. “I have studied them a lot in the qualification competition and here in Germany. Their coach (Francesco Calzona) has built a clear identity and a balanced team with experience.

“They have had an extra day of rest, but tomorrow we won’t care about tiredness or pressure, it is only the heart that matters. There is no other scenario for us, we want to qualify, no matter how.”

Romania have reached the knockout rounds of the Euros once before, in 2000, and the chance to repeat that feat after 24 years will make the battle in Frankfurt a mental one as well as physical, according to Iordanescu.

“If you look at their statistics, Slovakia are a very precise team who have clear mechanisms and a very complex way of playing. Players who balance effort and technique, and they have three or four players who are the pillars of their team.

“They are a solid team, an emotional team, and it will be a mental battle. Both teams have the chance to qualify, but both have to keep their cool and react to what happens on the pitch.”

Belgium v Ukraine

Belgium will be going all out to win against Ukraine in their final group game despite a draw being enough for them to reach the last 16 of Euro 2024, coach Domenico Tedesco said on Tuesday.

However, Tedesco said there was no way his side would sit back and settle for a point.

“We are going out to win the game. We can’t start to calculate or speculate, we want to win this game. In the last seven minutes of the game maybe we know what we want to do to keep a result but from the beginning there is no issue, we go to win,” the 38-year-old told a press conference.

Tedesco said they would make sure they were aware of the result in the other match at some point during the evening.

“Not smart from our side not to know it but not from the beginning… We have to focus on our game and then the result is coming automatically,” he added.

It’s the first meeting between Ukraine and Belgium. Both sides recovered from opening losses in the group to win their second matches and Tedesco was wary of the threat Serhiy Rebrov’s side had posed for big teams recently.

“Of course we need to be confident, normally there is no reason not to be confident but in football you can never be sure,” Tedesco said.

“We are sure we need a big game tomorrow because Ukraine is a big team. We saw several games of them, not just during the qualifiers against England, but now also games here at the Euros and before the friendly (0-0 draw) against Germany – I think they were the better team.”

Belgium will be hoping that their all-time top goalscorer Romelu Lukaku will get off the mark finally in Germany having seen three strikes disallowed after Video Assistant Referee (VAR) checks.

However, team mate Amadou Onana backed the 31-year-old to get over his disappointment and continue to be a leading figure in the team.

“Without Romelu’s goals in qualification we wouldn’t be here so we know what he brings to the table,” Onana said.

“He knows what it means to play with pressure, so I’m not concerned. He’s going to be key all throughout this tournament.”

Tedesco also hopes not to have his spontaneous joy on the touch-line cut short again.

“The VAR is postponing celebrations or stopping them at all so that’s why in the last game after three goals were cancelled I waited a bit for the celebrations (when Belgium scored),” he said.

“But sometimes emotions should be there so if I make a jump or a sprint I hope VAR is not stopping it again!”