The Ukrainian national team lost devastatingly in the first round of the Euro group stage Romania with a score of 0:3. Sergei Rebrov's team did not even show their best game and suffered a natural defeat.
There were a lot of expectations from the start of Ukraine. She did not fall into the strongest group: the Romanians and Slovaks were obviously considered outsiders, and the top generation of Belgians had already passed their peak. Unlike their competitors, young talented Ukrainians are just gaining strength, confidence and experience, and why shouldn’t the European Championship become a platform where they can make a big sensation?
Indeed, from a team that brings together players from top English clubs Premier League, Serie A and La Liga, you always expect something special and magical. The match against the Romanians was supposed to be a good warm-up for the Ukrainian team before the decisive battles. All the main stars came out at the start and were supposed to simply destroy the opponent. In reality, everything turned out terrible, gray and sad. And there are several reasons for this.
Goalkeeper Andriy Lunin's mistakesSuch a weak performance by the newly-crowned winner of the Champions League and the Spanish championship was an unpleasant surprise. He is responsible for two goals, which happened because of an inaccurate pass in the penalty area and careless play on the ball after a long-range shot. At the same time, Lunin showed nervousness and uncertainty throughout the match, which is why the Ukrainians almost conceded several times after set pieces. It will not be surprising if Lunin's backup Anatoliy Trubin plays in the match against the Slovakian team.
The uselessness of leaders 
The Ukrainian national team had an excellent generation with a strong focus on attack, which required the team to show bright and effective football in the opening game of the Euro. You shouldn’t expect anything else when the lineup includes one of the most expensive transfers in Chelsea history, Mikhail Mudrik, the top scorer of the Spanish Championship, Artem Dovbik and his creative partner at Girona, Viktor Tsygankov, as well as young midfielder Georgy Sudakov, whose transfer they are fighting for the best clubs on the planet.
However, once again the old truth came into play – football is played not by money, but by people. Romanians, whose transfer price is the lowest among all Euro team members (according to the Transfermarkt portal – 92 million euros). This is less than the amount that the “aristocrats” paid for Mudryk, they made great use of their chances and nipped in the bud all the opponent’s attempts. The Ukrainians tried to show something in front, but often fell into a meaningless dribble and did not show the proper movement.
Moral breakdown after the first goal In general, the game was equal until the first goal was scored. In some places, the Ukrainians were even preferable; they made more approaches to the opponent’s goal and were not inferior in single combats. Everything broke down after Lunin’s mistake and Nicolae Stanciu’s cool shot into the top nine. It would seem that 0:1 is not a problem, but Rebrov’s team simply did not recover from such a blow. In the second half, at times it seemed that the Ukrainians simply stopped playing. Because of this lack of will, the Romanian national team could score more and more, but stopped at only three goals.
Euro 202417 June 2024 • starts at 16:00Completed
RomaniaRomania3 : 0
UkraineUkraine
30' • Nicolae Stanciu (Dennis Man)
53' • Razvan Marin57' • Denis Dragus (Dennis Man)
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This problem of the Ukrainian team is a stone in the garden of Rebrov, who failed to reach his stars. Let's not take responsibility away from the football players, because they have been performing at the highest level for a long time and simply must be able to respond to this kind of problem.
The resounding defeat from the Romanians made the task of the Ukrainian national team extremely difficult. They really need points in the two remaining matches, but the tenacious Slovaks and the still dangerous Belgians are ahead. Will this talented generation be able to repeat the success of three years ago or will they fly out of the Euro in disgrace?
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