Romania and Lithuania they will meet in the second round of the Nations League groups. The match at Steaua Stadium in Bucharest will be played from 21:45.
It will be Mircea Lucescu’s first match at home, on the technical bench of the national team, in the new mandate. The duel will be broadcast liveTEXT by GSP.ro and live on Prima TV.
Romania – Lithuania, live from 21:45
Starting teams in Romania – Lithuania
Romania: Târnovanu – Rațiu, Drăgușin, Burcă, Bancu – M. Marin – Man, Stanciu, Răzvan Marin, Mihăilă – Drăguș;
Selector: Mircea Lucescu
reserves: Niță, L. Popescu – Manea, Ghiță, Alibec, Chipciu, Hagi, Coman, Artean, Olaru, Mitriță, Sorescu
Lithuania: Gertmons – Sirvys, Girdvainis, Lakiats, Tutuskinas, Lasickas – Matulevicius, Slivka, Vorobiovs, Dolznikov – Kukys
Reserves: Bertasius, Mikelionis, Milasius, Kazukolovs, Upstas, Paulauskas, Kalinauskas, Vareika, Verbickas, Paulauskas, Barauskas, Antanavicius
coach: Edgaras Jankauskas
Stadium: Steaua (Bucharest);
Referee: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia);
Assistants: Jure Praprotnik and Grega Kordez (both from Slovenia);
Referee VAR: Nejc Kajtazovic (Slovenia);
Assistant VAR: Alen Borosak (Slovenia);
UPDATE at 21:30. Problems entering the stadium
At the entrance to Tribuna 2, the turnstiles do not work, so a long queue was created around the stadium.
UPDATE VIDEO at 21:10. Romania’s players came out to warm up
UPDATE at 21:05. George Ogăraru: “We expect a victory”
UPDATE at 20:30. The Romanian team arrived at the stadium
UPDATE at 20:15. The Romanian national team arrived at the stadium
UPDATE at 20:00. Lobonț, statements before Romania – Lithuania
UPDATE at 20:00. The National Arena will be full of children
The National Arena will be full of children, who are at the match even though they will be at school on Tuesday morning.
UPDATE at 19:00. How does Romania’s locker room look at the first home match with Mircea Lucescu
Romania – Lithuania, the probable teams
ROMANIA (4-1-4-1): Niță – Rațiu, Drăgușin, Burcă, Bancu – M. Marin – Man, Stanciu, Răzvan Marin, Mihăilă – Drăguș;
reserves: Alibec, Artean, Mihăilă, V. Ghiță, I. Hagi, C. Manea, Mitriță, Olaru, Târnovanu, L. Popescu, Chipciu, Sorescu;
coach: Mircea Lucescu;
LITHUANIA (5-4-1): Gertmonas – Sirvys, Kazukolovs, Girdvainis, Tutyskinas, Lasickas – Slivka, Vorobjovas, G. Matulevicius, V. Paulauskas – Kucys;
Reserves: Atanavicius, Barauskas, Bertasius, Kalinauskas, Lekiatas, Mikelionis, Milasius, G. Paulauskas, Romanovskij, Upstas, Verbickas;
Selector: Edgaras Jankauskas;
Stadium: Steaua (Bucharest);
Referee: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia);
ASSISTANT: Jure Praprotnik and Grega Kordez (both from Slovenia);
VAR referee: Nejc Kajtazovic (Slovenia);
Assistance YES: Alen Borosak (Slovenia);
UPDATE AT 15:20 » Who is commenting on Romania – Lithuania
The match in Bucharest will be Mircea Lucescu’s first match on home soil, on the technical bench of the national team, in the new mandate. The duel will be broadcast liveTEXT by GSP.ro and live on Prima TV.
The station’s commentators will be two of the most experienced in the field: Emil Grădinescu and Costi Mocanu!
Moreover, from 21:00, Alex Rădulescu will have a special League of Nations studio. Guests: Viorel Moldovan and Basarab Panduru.
A special one-hour edition is also prepared at the end of the game, from 23:45. Hot reactions from the stadium, interviews, commentary and analysis.
UPDATE AT 15:00 » Special area for fans
Surprises for fans in the Fan Arena at the match with Lithuania. Access starts at 18:45, three hours before the start of the game at the Steaua stadium.
Fun zones, face painting, food and juice stands at fixed prices of 5 and 10 lei. The little ones will also be able to take pictures with the mascot of the national team.
UPDATE 14:25 » Measures taken to access the Steaua stadium
The FRF officials announced that the access of children of any age to the Steaua stadium will be based on the access ticket. Minors under 14 have access to the arena only when accompanied by an adult.
Gencea
Moreover, they are prohibited in the arena “t-shirts or other items of clothing inscribed with letters, words, texts, symbols or images which – in the opinion of the organizer – have obscene, discriminatory or provocative content”.
“Which incites the denigration of the country, xenophobia, national, racial, class or religious hatred, discrimination of any kind and violence, or the implications of which lead to the same acts prohibited and listed in the text above”, announces the Federation .
UPDATE 14:00 » Clear rules for spectators
- only the flags of the four finalists/clubs, the national flag of Romania, flown on a flexible plastic support, with a maximum length of 1 m and a maximum diameter of 1 cm, and identity banners of the factions are allowed
- not to insert or display signs, not to chant slogans of a political nature
- not to smoke in the stands; the ban also applies to people who use electronic cigarettes. Smoking is only allowed in the specially arranged places in the commercial/kiosk areas of the two grandstands and the two lawns.
UPDATE 13:30 » The message of the national team: “Come dressed in yellow!”
After we conquered Germany, and Romanians and Romania were talked about in superlative terms, the officials of the Romanian Football Federation want the “Yellow Wall” to be at its height again.
This time, at home, against Lithuania tonight. “The supporters are urged to come dressed in yellow to create an electrifying atmosphere and to raise the “Yellow Wall” in the stands of the stadium” was the message that the Federation sent.
The “Generația de Suflet” will also join, “singing together with all those present the national anthem, in a moment of unity and support that has become a distinctive mark of the Romanian supporters at the European Championship”, noted the FRF officials.
UPDATE 13:00 » Mircea Lucescu decided the team for the match with Lithuania
Mircea Lucescu decided the team for the match with Lithuania. The selector left George Pușcaș and Iulian Cristea out of the squad. George Pușcaș entered in the 83rd minute of the match with Kosovo, and Iulian Cristea was not included in the squad in that match either.
The squad for the match with Lithuania includes the following players:
- porter: Florin NIțĂ, Laurentiu POPESCU, Ștefan TĂRNOVANU
- defense: Andrei RAțIU, Cristian MANEA, Andrei BURCĂ, Radu DRĂGUȘIN, Virgil GHIțĂ, Nicusor BANCU, Alexandru CHIPCIU
- midfielders: Deian SORESCU, Dennis MAN, Nicolae STANCIU, Răzvan MARIN, Marius MARIN, Darius OLARU, Ianis HAGI, Valentin MIHĂILĂ, Florinel COMAN, Alexandru MITRIĂ, Andrei ARTEAN
- ATTACKERS: Denis DRĂGUȘ, Denis ALIBEC
Romania has the chance to get the second consecutive victory in group 2 of the C league, after the victory in Pristina, with Kosovo, in which they prevailed with 3-0 thanks to the goals scored by Dennis Man, Răzvan Marin and Denis Drăguș. The top four group winners from the Nations League will advance to the 2026 World Cup play-off.
The two representatives last met on November 17, 2018, in the same competition, at the “Ilie Oană” arena in Ploiești.
Coached then by Cosmin Contra, the “tricolori” prevailed with a score of 3-0, the scorers being George Pușcaș, Claudiu Keșeru and Nicolae Stanciu.
Romania also won in the round, in Vilnius, final score 1-2, thanks to the successes of Alex Chipciu and Alex Maxim. In the 14 meetings so far, the “tricolors” have won 13 times, while the Baltics only once.
Lithuania comes after a defeat at home, in the first round against Cyprus, 0-1.
At the press conference preceding the game, the selector Mircea Lucescu let it be understood that he has not yet decided on the first “11”, so it is expected that there will be changes in the starting team, compared to the one from Pristina.
“It is difficult for players to recover quickly. I played at 10 in the evening, I stayed until 2-3 in the morning, the next day I have to recover and only one day of training. I analyzed the match for only 10 minutes, it didn’t take more. The greatest danger is the moment of victory, Napoleon said, not me. Don’t expect anything, I haven’t decided anything yet. Ianis has a handicap, the lack of minutes at the competition level. No practice is like a game. The important thing is that he is here, that he wanted to be here. We have to win the game, I don’t have to think about one or the other”, transmitted “Il Luce”.
After 38 years, Mircea Lucescu returns home, to Romania – Lithuania. Photo: Cristi Preda, GSP.ro
