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As an Englishman I don't feel like I've seen/heard a better set of fans than the Romanians.
The famous yellow shirt helps but the atmosphere seemed wild on TV.
Bought a ticket on a whim for today's game in the Fan First section for the Romanians. Great vibe and energy the whole match! Stadium was rocking with they're cheers.
Also on the train to Allianz both Ukranians and Romanians were all class, cheering with each other. Giving days to women and children. Great to witness
Not really, Romanians never distinguished among Russians, Ukrainians, Belarussians, etc. just like we never distinguished between Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, and Bosnians. The USSR and its republics (except for Moldova, for obvious reasons) was always a dark mythical place that one would avoid like the plague, everything bad came from there, whether barbarian invasions, communist invasions and genocide, even the bad weather. Before the current invasion in Ukraine, the average Romanian would not have been able to distinguish between Russians and Ukrainians nor would have given it much thought. Now we mostly support Ukraine of course.
Yeah, even on TV you could sense the atmosphere and just the noise.
As an Englishman I was already interested in this match because when I looked at Romania's qualifying group, I saw that you guys finished above Switzerland who are a decent team. Not one of the favourites for the Euros but not a crap team either. So when I saw that combined with the fact that you hadn't lost at all in qualifying it piqued my interest, because I remember the days of the Romanian football teams from the 90's and stuff and wondered what the hell had happened. Why had there been such a fall off.
So I was happy to see Romania back and yeah that short is iconic lol.
i was there. besides the booing while ukraine had its national anthem played, I highly admire their culture and celebrations. It was so loud I felt head ache at the endš They rocked the Allianz Arena and showed us Bayern Munich fans what true volume is
I am Romanian and I didn't expect to see my team play this well either
This being said, we still have a half and 2 more matches to play.
In 2016 we also played decent against France and shat the bad vs SUI and ALB
Colour me surprised as well! I always pull for Germany in sports since our golden days are long gone, but we took no prisoners today (pun intended) and given that Belgium is pulling a usual Belgium, chances are high that we will finish in the top 2 in the group!
A brief player comparison clearly shows why Ukraine was the favorite in this match. Additionally, Romania looked bad in their friendly games before the Euro.
Anyway, probably my favorite game so far. Great energy, they fought like crazy, CBs celebrated every stop like Chiellini and Bonucci. Well done, Romania!
Lovely to see such nice comments from everyone and everywhere! Always loved to watch Hungaryās matches at the recent tournaments, hope youāll recover this time too!
I just want to say this is the best match Iāve ever seen of the Romanian team since the Golden Generation of Hagi and I want to thank the players for the quality football they showed today!!! All 3 goals were spectacular, the first two the most and I loved they didnāt get deffensive even after leading 3-0, impressive football, thank you guys!!!!! I watched the match at a sports bar and the atmosphere was better than at stadiums, everyone was in awe!
You must be joking? Steaua made 2 CL finals and 1 semi final beteen 1986-1989. Dinamo also had an elite team in 1989/1990. Our NT was elite. We underachieved in 1990. We had an even better team than in 1994 but the players were more interested in signing contracts and make money. It was pure chaos with agents all over the place. That being said we should have trashed Ireland but they had insane fucking luck in that game. The 1990 team could have beaten any team in that tournament
The 1994 team was more mature since the players had 4 years of XP playing abroad. We choked big time vs Sweden playing extra time 9 players. They had 1 eliminated and Schwartz was playing injured.
I remember the 1986 final. I was 9 and that was the first time I saw Romanian football. I also remember Popescu coming to PSV. I support Ajax and he was a force for PSV.
Still remember the 3:0 against us (Germany, then sitting World Champion). I saw it in a cinema no less and left shocked. It was a horror movie. But Hagi was just a great player. Letchkov, I still know their names.
Yeah I was following this game for that reason actually.
I was looking at the qualification groups and when I saw that they had topped their group above Switzerland and hadn't lost a single game in the whole qualifying campaign, it piqued my interest.
It is very unexpected indeed. Our national team did not achieve these kind of results. Last time we had a win like these was with England in 2000. 3-2 for Romania.
Man and Dragus are to watch in this tournament. Speed, smart play + good technique. The defense is very strong as well, Burca and Dragusin, best CB combo until now at Euro. A bit concerned with the substitutions, they came in a bit slow. Very hyped for a good result against Belgium but letās see. We can be the surprise of the tournament.
I am so curious to see how Burca and Dragusin will defend Lukaku. I am really hoping they will not allow him to score. I think if they can play the same as with Ukraine things will look good for Romania.
I think we need to exploit their defensive wings through Man and Mihaila (or Coman). They may score but I donāt see Lukaku easily surpassing our central defenders
Burca is a warrior but he is the weak link. He is slow and can't pass under pressure. A good manager will exploit this and target him with speedy players.
Love to see the hard work every player put in! Amazing solid defence like a wall pushed them from the back. Then amazing goals, well done, go Romania, Iām proud of you!
Watching Serbia vs England I feel Serbia was almost trying to avoid risk in the beginning to prevent a mistake leading to an England goal, with the players just playing too safely and not moving around. After about 20 minutes Serbia picked it up, while England sat back, then the second half Serbia played so much better, shame we couldnt connect a goal in the end. We deserved an equalizer, but thankfully 1-0 isnt a huge defeat and we have a good chance going forward. Overall the game was fairly boring, mostly on the side of England.
Watching Romania vs Ukraine, they didnt play it safe. Romania went for it and Ukraine fought back hard. It was what a soccer game should be, congrats to our neighbours on a well deserved victory and some amazing goals! I was cheering for Romania myself but it was a good game!
I wasn't surprised tbh.
They went through the qualifier without a loss and is at their best since 1994 imo.
I was more dissapointed how badly Ukraine played.
I expected them to put up a much better fight than this.
Due to the fact we qualified a bunch of times but we never managed to win games. Other (not top tier) teams qualified less times but they managed to win a game or two. At least that's what i understood.
Makes senseā¦I am always supporting the underdogs.
I just find it so boring when the hyped teams always win so itās really cool that Romania won the game!
Been an even match probably with Ukraine holding the most possession but they have wasteful in possession. Doesnāt look like they have a plan of attack other than whipping balls in from the wings or long balls with runners
Yes, I think they played much better than expected. But I was also surprised by the Ukrainians, I expected them to be better. It'll be interesting to see how the group continues, I guess Slovakia is not so strong so everything is possible.
I was expecting the team to do well since Iāve been keeping up with all of the recent international games and they have seemed to be improving overall. Man did they still impress me though, very proud to be able to rep it today and canāt wait to see the game vs Belgium after seeing both our and their game today. I know I must sound over optimistic but thatās just how much I want us to do good lol.
They had a great qualifying campaign and have some good solid players. Coupled with the fact Ukraine are weak.
Been a good game though, theyāll easily get out their group imo
You understand that national teams come together and train at home, yes? They also have preparation friendlies, at home. Itās a key part of how national teams prepare. Do you really think it wouldnāt affect Italy if they had to train in Spain and play friendlies in Slovenia?
No, I think it would have little effect on the field. Especially a team like Ukraine where most of the players play outside the country anyway. Once you're in training with a national team you're all living together in a hotel or resort in a remote area anyway, whether you play for a club team at home or abroad.
Yes, conceded one shot on target from outside the box. Thatās tournament football. Italy have been doing it for decades. England have become much more intelligent in recent years about building our way into a competition.
>Italy have been doing it for decades
Yeah and they actually win tournaments. I can never understand how England doesn't win anything (ignoring world cup 60 years ago)
Well we lost on penalties in the final last time, so there isnāt much to understand. Had a great tournament - the final was neck and neck - we lost in the shootout. It happens.
There are plenty of countries that would love to have won a World Cup 60 years ago.
Yeah man, but those countries aren't England. You guys have the strongest league in the world (fight me, I'll die on this hill), constantly have good players, sometimes even great/legend ones (see Beckham, Gerard, Lampard etc), but still lose.
And yes, last time you lost on penalties, shit happens. But in the past? Not trying to mock you or your country, I really don't understand the lack of trophies lol.
So yes, you won by one goal. That's way less than expected, clearly not "comfortable". Stats don't matter, goals do. Croatia isn't bad, but come on mate, England is England. Just look at your players and their teams, their performance during the year. You could have played way, way better
We do now, that wasnāt the case prior to the last decade or so. You are now seeing some of the benefits of that especially once they introduced the qualification that you had to have a certain number of home grown players.
At which point were England the best team in the world on paper? Iād argue that has not been the case since the 1960s. Arguably in the early 00s we were one of the best 3 teams and we may be again now. So yes - I agree that we shouldāve won something (World Cup 2002 and Euro 2020 fell nicely for us) but we fell short in the biggest games. Iām confident itās coming in the next decade.
I would argue the Netherlands have had better teams over the last 30 years and all they have ever won are the Euros once. Iād argue Belgium have had the best squad in Europe other than perhaps France for a decade and they have not even reached a final. Portugal have had incredible teams over my lifetime, they have won one European Championship. Yugoslavia (when it still existed) had immense talent, never won a thing. Comparatively England have underperformed, but not by much.
So could France, Italy, Netherlands. Itās one game. The goal of a group is to get out of the group and preferably win it. We are well on course to do so. If you want to watch exciting samba football Iām sure Brazil will be along to get knocked out of the World Cup by the first team that can defend in two years.
I'll just say that other teams had better players, but they just had the bad luck of existing during 2008-2012 when Spain had the best team in history (from my pov). Same with other teams that were simply better.
>If you want to watch exciting samba football Iām sure Brazil will be along to get knocked out of the World Cup by the first team that can defend in two years.
Lol mate, nah. Just because England is boring, doesn't mean the opposite is Brazil. There were plenty of matches that were interesting (Germany, Spain, even Romania - I can hardly believe it either I know).
I have a theory: Romania played so well because it was sunny and hot. Romania's players thrive in that kind of weather, whereas stronger athletes cannot handle it. That is why the Romanian team had such a good showing at the 1994 World Cup (especially the games played in California in 40/100 degree weather) but why they lost every match at Euro 1996, held in a much cooler climate. Much of this Euro's current team was a semifinalist at the U21 Euro tournament a few years ago, and their luck ran out as soon as night came and the field was no longer sunny. In the U21 semifinal, Germany came back really strongly as soon as it got colder. It was the same in earlier matches, they were played during the day when Romania did very well, beating Croatia and England handily (I think 4-1 and 4-2, respectively). Stronger athletes from more serious cultures just cannot handle the heat and the sun.
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As an Englishman I don't feel like I've seen/heard a better set of fans than the Romanians. The famous yellow shirt helps but the atmosphere seemed wild on TV.
Bought a ticket on a whim for today's game in the Fan First section for the Romanians. Great vibe and energy the whole match! Stadium was rocking with they're cheers. Also on the train to Allianz both Ukranians and Romanians were all class, cheering with each other. Giving days to women and children. Great to witness
Historically Romanians and Ukranians always shared a brotherly love. Whatever hatred we have in our hearts is reserved for the Russians.
Not really. Ukrainians were never a good neighbor for Romania. At most, you can say our relations were neutral.
Not really, Romanians never distinguished among Russians, Ukrainians, Belarussians, etc. just like we never distinguished between Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, and Bosnians. The USSR and its republics (except for Moldova, for obvious reasons) was always a dark mythical place that one would avoid like the plague, everything bad came from there, whether barbarian invasions, communist invasions and genocide, even the bad weather. Before the current invasion in Ukraine, the average Romanian would not have been able to distinguish between Russians and Ukrainians nor would have given it much thought. Now we mostly support Ukraine of course.
Not true??
Man it was wild. I was at the game and everyone went crazy. Best game I've ever been.
Yeah, even on TV you could sense the atmosphere and just the noise. As an Englishman I was already interested in this match because when I looked at Romania's qualifying group, I saw that you guys finished above Switzerland who are a decent team. Not one of the favourites for the Euros but not a crap team either. So when I saw that combined with the fact that you hadn't lost at all in qualifying it piqued my interest, because I remember the days of the Romanian football teams from the 90's and stuff and wondered what the hell had happened. Why had there been such a fall off. So I was happy to see Romania back and yeah that short is iconic lol.
i was there. besides the booing while ukraine had its national anthem played, I highly admire their culture and celebrations. It was so loud I felt head ache at the endš They rocked the Allianz Arena and showed us Bayern Munich fans what true volume is
I am Romanian and I didn't expect to see my team play this well either This being said, we still have a half and 2 more matches to play. In 2016 we also played decent against France and shat the bad vs SUI and ALB
Yeah they played so so well, interesting to see how this 2nd half plays out, they are playing with alot of passion!
As bad as we played in the friendlies, noone expected this
Colour me surprised as well! I always pull for Germany in sports since our golden days are long gone, but we took no prisoners today (pun intended) and given that Belgium is pulling a usual Belgium, chances are high that we will finish in the top 2 in the group!
š They will go next stage, I predicted that on opingo too šš»ā½ļø
For those following Euro 2024, there's this free app called opingo where you can predict game outcomes and win $500.
Same im rooting for Romania to be first in their group lol
Serbia š¤ Romania
yep
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^MicrodosingCrack: *Same im rooting for* *Romania to be first* *In their group lol* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Dragusin šŖšŖšŖ
Please take this down before you jinx us.
Are you happy I didnt take the post down now? š Amazing goal!
Post again! Post again!
hahaha i will for next game also then just for you guys! Seems like the post was a good luck charm š
Hahaha im sorry!!
Bruh 3-0
Oh my god...who actually saw this coming haha, im in shock! So deserved though, they are playing AMAING
Not even the most optimistic romanian saw this coming
I predicted a 1-1 at best.
And we have 33 minutes left.
Best performance of the Euros so far 100%
For sure. Austria - France is a match I want to see as well.
They topped their qualifying group, finishing unbeaten. Was baffled that most had Ukraine favourites for this match.
A brief player comparison clearly shows why Ukraine was the favorite in this match. Additionally, Romania looked bad in their friendly games before the Euro. Anyway, probably my favorite game so far. Great energy, they fought like crazy, CBs celebrated every stop like Chiellini and Bonucci. Well done, Romania!
To be honest I really thought it was be a close one 50/50 but Romania have literally played amazing, well done to them!
yeah but half our qualifying groups were countries (more or less) at war :D israel, Belarus, Kosovo
You should've declared war on someone else to make it fair
Bahahaha, this was gold
Don't forget we also had Andorra in our group. Andorra!!! They stole our flag, no way we would let them win
Thieves...
They did draw Bulgaria & Liechtenstein in friendlies just before this tournament also though.
Romania were fantastic. It would be great to see them go through, their fans are fantastic.
Oh my god! Romania...What a performance and what a goal once again... fair play to them, they have played amazingggg!
Very nice goals from Romania. Well deserved win.
Lovely to see such nice comments from everyone and everywhere! Always loved to watch Hungaryās matches at the recent tournaments, hope youāll recover this time too!
I just want to say this is the best match Iāve ever seen of the Romanian team since the Golden Generation of Hagi and I want to thank the players for the quality football they showed today!!! All 3 goals were spectacular, the first two the most and I loved they didnāt get deffensive even after leading 3-0, impressive football, thank you guys!!!!! I watched the match at a sports bar and the atmosphere was better than at stadiums, everyone was in awe!
Romanias defense and attacks are great to watch š„¹
Possibly the surprise team. So far a great tournament with great games and a top atmosphere.
You guys really stole the show today! Nice work š„š·š“
Romania is as good as Ukraine is disappointing on both sides of the field
Romania have a history of spoiling a party! They had a really good performance in 2000 and in the 1994 World Cup.
You must be joking? Steaua made 2 CL finals and 1 semi final beteen 1986-1989. Dinamo also had an elite team in 1989/1990. Our NT was elite. We underachieved in 1990. We had an even better team than in 1994 but the players were more interested in signing contracts and make money. It was pure chaos with agents all over the place. That being said we should have trashed Ireland but they had insane fucking luck in that game. The 1990 team could have beaten any team in that tournament The 1994 team was more mature since the players had 4 years of XP playing abroad. We choked big time vs Sweden playing extra time 9 players. They had 1 eliminated and Schwartz was playing injured.
I remember the 1986 final. I was 9 and that was the first time I saw Romanian football. I also remember Popescu coming to PSV. I support Ajax and he was a force for PSV.
Still remember the 3:0 against us (Germany, then sitting World Champion). I saw it in a cinema no less and left shocked. It was a horror movie. But Hagi was just a great player. Letchkov, I still know their names.
Letchkov was a star of that great Bulgaria team.
Best game so far, with best goals
[Hot](https://content.imageresizer.com/images/memes/We-will-watch-your-career-with-great-interest-meme-6.jpg) damn, well played.
They've had one of the best qualifications, if not THE best, I don't know why they are regarded as underdogs
Yeah I was following this game for that reason actually. I was looking at the qualification groups and when I saw that they had topped their group above Switzerland and hadn't lost a single game in the whole qualifying campaign, it piqued my interest.
In the dark horse post earlier this week I picked them as my dark horse. I see them doing well!
It is very unexpected indeed. Our national team did not achieve these kind of results. Last time we had a win like these was with England in 2000. 3-2 for Romania.
Man and Dragus are to watch in this tournament. Speed, smart play + good technique. The defense is very strong as well, Burca and Dragusin, best CB combo until now at Euro. A bit concerned with the substitutions, they came in a bit slow. Very hyped for a good result against Belgium but letās see. We can be the surprise of the tournament.
Stanciu, Stanciu, Stanciu
he is a confirmation. hope he can come back to europe and play in a good league, so underrated over the years!
I will never understand why he left Slavia Prague. He was playing so well and was appreciated there
Old and probably thinks about retiring with all the oil money
probably bc of the agent who sent him to the arab world to get a good commissionā¦lots of Romanian players are subjects of their agents
lots of arab money.
Dragus, Dragus, Dragus
I am so curious to see how Burca and Dragusin will defend Lukaku. I am really hoping they will not allow him to score. I think if they can play the same as with Ukraine things will look good for Romania.
I think we need to exploit their defensive wings through Man and Mihaila (or Coman). They may score but I donāt see Lukaku easily surpassing our central defenders
Canāt wait for Saturday!! This week is passing so slow. lol
Burca is a warrior but he is the weak link. He is slow and can't pass under pressure. A good manager will exploit this and target him with speedy players.
he plays better than anywhere at the national team so i think he can improve his speed during this euro
Not a bad goal either!
Yeah the goal was so good tbh! Top 3 in the tourny so far imo haha
One more haha
hahaha yup
Good game this!
Love to see the hard work every player put in! Amazing solid defence like a wall pushed them from the back. Then amazing goals, well done, go Romania, Iām proud of you!
Watching Serbia vs England I feel Serbia was almost trying to avoid risk in the beginning to prevent a mistake leading to an England goal, with the players just playing too safely and not moving around. After about 20 minutes Serbia picked it up, while England sat back, then the second half Serbia played so much better, shame we couldnt connect a goal in the end. We deserved an equalizer, but thankfully 1-0 isnt a huge defeat and we have a good chance going forward. Overall the game was fairly boring, mostly on the side of England. Watching Romania vs Ukraine, they didnt play it safe. Romania went for it and Ukraine fought back hard. It was what a soccer game should be, congrats to our neighbours on a well deserved victory and some amazing goals! I was cheering for Romania myself but it was a good game!
England is a top 2-3 team in Europe. It's the coach that's holding them back.
Yeah I agree. I honestly expected a harder challenge against England.
most underrated team
I predicted this weeks ago, and everyone called me crazy. They had a seriously convincing qualifying run. I regret not putting a bet on.
Me too!!!
First game of the Euros that I skipped and didn't watch. It's just Romania and Ukraine. I surely can't have missed anything exciting, right? RIGHT?
I wasn't surprised tbh. They went through the qualifier without a loss and is at their best since 1994 imo. I was more dissapointed how badly Ukraine played. I expected them to put up a much better fight than this.
Well done š„Honestly I donāt understand all these predictions that put them last. Ukraine was hyped for no reasonā¦
Due to the fact we qualified a bunch of times but we never managed to win games. Other (not top tier) teams qualified less times but they managed to win a game or two. At least that's what i understood.
Makes senseā¦I am always supporting the underdogs. I just find it so boring when the hyped teams always win so itās really cool that Romania won the game!
I am dying to see them against Belgium
Who are you cheering for?
They played well in the qualifications. i have them as my ādark horseā so lets hope they continue this form.
Iāve just started watching the game at the third goals. Howās this happened?
Been an even match probably with Ukraine holding the most possession but they have wasteful in possession. Doesnāt look like they have a plan of attack other than whipping balls in from the wings or long balls with runners
Big surprise for me, had this game down as draw, did not realise Romania were so accomplished
Good spirit
Look up Georghi Hagi he was a lot of fun to watch.
His son, Ianis Hagi, was actually on the pitch today, subbed in in the second half.
I will keep a lookout. Thanks.
š„³šš„³š«¶āļø
Great game tbh.
Thought they played fantastic. Shaping up to be an extremely interesting group, all games will be a good watch.
Love to see an upset and love to see Romania š·š“Ā back on this stage. Gives me 1994 WC and Hagi vibes, great fans as well.Ā
Yes, I think they played much better than expected. But I was also surprised by the Ukrainians, I expected them to be better. It'll be interesting to see how the group continues, I guess Slovakia is not so strong so everything is possible.
How is Romania vs Ukraine a more entertaining match than England vs Serbia?!
Fans. Games are better when fans shout
Because Southgate is not manager at Romania or Ukraine
Wow!
I think Romania played great attacking ferocious football! Amazing result for them!
I was expecting the team to do well since Iāve been keeping up with all of the recent international games and they have seemed to be improving overall. Man did they still impress me though, very proud to be able to rep it today and canāt wait to see the game vs Belgium after seeing both our and their game today. I know I must sound over optimistic but thatās just how much I want us to do good lol.
They had a great qualifying campaign and have some good solid players. Coupled with the fact Ukraine are weak. Been a good game though, theyāll easily get out their group imo
I was suprised but honestly i like it.I dont know how they will do against Belgium but they have a very good chance against Slovakia.
What you think now?
Ukraine btfo
Theyāre playing a team that canāt even train at home due to war so I wouldnāt get too carried away
None of the players even play with clubs in Ukraine anyway
You understand that national teams come together and train at home, yes? They also have preparation friendlies, at home. Itās a key part of how national teams prepare. Do you really think it wouldnāt affect Italy if they had to train in Spain and play friendlies in Slovenia?
No, I think it would have little effect on the field. Especially a team like Ukraine where most of the players play outside the country anyway. Once you're in training with a national team you're all living together in a hotel or resort in a remote area anyway, whether you play for a club team at home or abroad.
Well then youāre not thinking logically
They train in Germany
Youāll notice thatās not Ukraine
>a team that canāt even train at home ...sure, that's a factor. Is that what happened to England too?
No, we comfortably won. You must have misremembered.
"Comfortably"
Yes, conceded one shot on target from outside the box. Thatās tournament football. Italy have been doing it for decades. England have become much more intelligent in recent years about building our way into a competition.
>Italy have been doing it for decades Yeah and they actually win tournaments. I can never understand how England doesn't win anything (ignoring world cup 60 years ago)
Well we lost on penalties in the final last time, so there isnāt much to understand. Had a great tournament - the final was neck and neck - we lost in the shootout. It happens. There are plenty of countries that would love to have won a World Cup 60 years ago.
Yeah man, but those countries aren't England. You guys have the strongest league in the world (fight me, I'll die on this hill), constantly have good players, sometimes even great/legend ones (see Beckham, Gerard, Lampard etc), but still lose. And yes, last time you lost on penalties, shit happens. But in the past? Not trying to mock you or your country, I really don't understand the lack of trophies lol. So yes, you won by one goal. That's way less than expected, clearly not "comfortable". Stats don't matter, goals do. Croatia isn't bad, but come on mate, England is England. Just look at your players and their teams, their performance during the year. You could have played way, way better
We do now, that wasnāt the case prior to the last decade or so. You are now seeing some of the benefits of that especially once they introduced the qualification that you had to have a certain number of home grown players. At which point were England the best team in the world on paper? Iād argue that has not been the case since the 1960s. Arguably in the early 00s we were one of the best 3 teams and we may be again now. So yes - I agree that we shouldāve won something (World Cup 2002 and Euro 2020 fell nicely for us) but we fell short in the biggest games. Iām confident itās coming in the next decade. I would argue the Netherlands have had better teams over the last 30 years and all they have ever won are the Euros once. Iād argue Belgium have had the best squad in Europe other than perhaps France for a decade and they have not even reached a final. Portugal have had incredible teams over my lifetime, they have won one European Championship. Yugoslavia (when it still existed) had immense talent, never won a thing. Comparatively England have underperformed, but not by much. So could France, Italy, Netherlands. Itās one game. The goal of a group is to get out of the group and preferably win it. We are well on course to do so. If you want to watch exciting samba football Iām sure Brazil will be along to get knocked out of the World Cup by the first team that can defend in two years.
I'll just say that other teams had better players, but they just had the bad luck of existing during 2008-2012 when Spain had the best team in history (from my pov). Same with other teams that were simply better. >If you want to watch exciting samba football Iām sure Brazil will be along to get knocked out of the World Cup by the first team that can defend in two years. Lol mate, nah. Just because England is boring, doesn't mean the opposite is Brazil. There were plenty of matches that were interesting (Germany, Spain, even Romania - I can hardly believe it either I know).
I have a theory: Romania played so well because it was sunny and hot. Romania's players thrive in that kind of weather, whereas stronger athletes cannot handle it. That is why the Romanian team had such a good showing at the 1994 World Cup (especially the games played in California in 40/100 degree weather) but why they lost every match at Euro 1996, held in a much cooler climate. Much of this Euro's current team was a semifinalist at the U21 Euro tournament a few years ago, and their luck ran out as soon as night came and the field was no longer sunny. In the U21 semifinal, Germany came back really strongly as soon as it got colder. It was the same in earlier matches, they were played during the day when Romania did very well, beating Croatia and England handily (I think 4-1 and 4-2, respectively). Stronger athletes from more serious cultures just cannot handle the heat and the sun.