Köln. Dark horse Belgium has arrived in the second game of the European Championship. The Belgians defeated Romania 2-0 (1-0) thanks to their captain.
Everything is open again in the most exciting European Championship preliminary group E. After two match days, all teams have scored three points – Belgium was the last to do so. In the match against Romania, there were a dozen great chances, but only two goals. And they scored Youri Tielemans and the outstanding Kevin De Bruyne to the Belgian 2-0 (1-0) victory.
Belgium takes the lead after one and a half minutes
Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco reacted to the unexpected 0-1 opening surprise against Slovakia with four changes in the starting line-up – and one of the new players was in the spotlight after just one and a half minutes: midfielder Youri Tielemans coolly pushed the ball into the net after a pass from Jeremy Doku – it was the fastest goal in Belgian European Championship history.
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And for them it was a great relief. A curse seemed to lie over the country with the former golden generation and high expectations in recent tournaments. Belgium led the FIFA world rankings for national teams for a total of around four years between 2015 and 2022 – titles: none.
Some of the once talented team have since retired – but De Bruyne is still one of the best European players at the age of 32 and Romelu Lukaku (31) is one of the most robust strikers. And of the new Belgian youngsters, Jeremy Doku (22), why he already plays for Manchester City – a brilliant dribbler with rocket propulsion.
Goal celebration: Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco is happy after the opening goal.
© Getty Images | Justin Setterfield
This combination led to numerous other opportunities, but as against Slovakia, the chances were not converted. Lukaku’s shot was blocked at the last moment for a corner (14th minute). Romanian goalkeeper Marin Nita (18th minute) saved Dodi Lukebakio’s shot. Old defender Jan Vertonghen (37th minute) shot wide of a corner (19th minute) and Doku was stopped by Nita (32nd minute). Belgium missed seven corners with 69 percent possession.
The Romanians, who had surprisingly beaten Ukraine 3-0 in their first match, lacked the strategic means and individual quality to pose a lasting threat to Belgium in front of 43,000 spectators in Cologne in the first half. However, they almost equalised at one point. In the fifth minute, central defender Radu Dragusin rose up and headed dangerously towards goal, but Belgium’s goalkeeper Koen Casteels deflected the ball over the goal – a great save. At halftime, Belgium were leading 1-0 – a deserved result.
Two great chances for Romania in the second half
The Romanian team included three second division players and two from Saudi Arabia’s first division, but they came out of the dressing room much more cheerful against Belgium’s top team – and had their second big chance to equalize after just three minutes. After a bad mistake by Amadou Onana in midfield, Valantin Mihaila stormed towards the goal alone, but shot wide.
The Belgians now seemed to realise that the score was only 1-0 – and that a draw would make an early exit from the European Championship more likely. And they even gave the Romanians a third chance to make it 1-1. Dennis Man also stormed towards the goal alone in the 68th minute, but he was stopped by the strong reaction of goalkeeper Koen Casteels.
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The Red Devils needed their best player to decide the game: Captain De Bruyne took control of the game when Belgium needed it most. He had already seemingly set up a goal in the 64th minute, but the scorer Lukaku was offside with the tip of his foot – the third Lukaku goal that the video assistant disallowed. In the 80th minute, De Bruyne himself made the decision. After a long kick from goalkeeper Casteels, he scored to make it 2-0.
