Youri Tielemans breathed new life into Belgium’s Euro 2024 campaign as the Aston Villa midfielder’s 73rd-second goal inspired a vital 2-0 victory over Romania on Saturday. Domenico Tedesco’s team would have been on the verge of elimination if they had suffered a second consecutive defeat in Group E. But Tielemans’ two-minute goal in Cologne allayed fears of yet another failure in a major tournament by Belgium, full of of stars. Kevin De Bruyne took the points in the finals, leaving all four teams in the group with three points.
The stage is set for a dramatic final round in the battle to reach the round of 16.
Belgium faces Ukraine and Romania faces Slovakia on June 26th.
With 45 steps separating the two nations in the FIFA rankings, third-placed Belgium’s 1-0 defeat to Slovakia on Monday was the biggest upset in European Championship history.
Romania, ranked 47th, competed bravely as they tried to overcome their own shock, but this time Belgium’s superior class proved decisive.
“I have the same feeling as I did against Slovakia: we played well, but the difference is that today we scored and won,” said Belgian captain De Bruyne.
“We made some mistakes and wasted some opportunities, but we can be satisfied with our performance, both offensively and defensively.”
After being eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup and losing in the quarter-finals of the last two euros, Belgium’s golden generation has given itself new hope of finally realizing its vast potential.
Romania recorded a 3-0 victory over Ukraine on Monday – their first major tournament win since beating England at Euro 2000.
Despite this defeat, Edward Iordanescu’s team is still in the fight to reach the knockout stage of the Euros for the first time in 24 years.
“We never gave up, we fought hard. In the second half we were better. With a little luck we could have got a point,” said Romania coach Iordanescu.
Belgium have failed to score in more than 300 minutes at major tournaments since scoring against Canada in the last World Cup.
They needed less than two minutes to end the drought.
Influential De Bruyne
A comprehensive move culminated when Jeremy Doku’s pass found Romelu Lukaku in the Romanian box and he passed the ball back to Tielemans, who sent a powerful low shot past Florin Nita on the edge of the box.
Tottenham’s Romanian defender Radu Dragusin came close to equalizing moments later with a header that Koen Casteels deflected over.
After an injury-plagued season at Manchester City in which he failed to reach his usual standards, De Bruyne looked below his best against Slovakia.
The Belgian captain was much more influential this time, with a sweeping attack that ended with a pass to Dodi Lukebakio, whose shot was deflected by Nita.
Doku was denied by another good save from Nita, after breaking through the overloaded Romanian defence.
Valentin Mihaila wasted a golden opportunity to equalize just after the break, latching on to Amadou Onana’s miscued pass and racing wide, only to fire high into the stands.
De Bruyne was moving threateningly, darting past the far post from 20 yards and then making a smart save from Nita with a shot on the turn.
Lukaku scored two goals, including a late equalizer disallowed by VAR against Slovakia.
The striker was denied again by VAR in the 63rd minute when he converted a De Bruyne pass before being ruled narrowly offside.
Romania almost profited from that escape when Dennis Man ran in, but could not find the precision to beat Casteels.
De Bruyne finally delivered the knockout blow in the 80th minute, connecting with Casteels’ long shot and firing past Nita.
“You saw a team with a lot of quality, it has speed, it has explosion, it has strength. It’s a complete team. It’s a candidate for the title,” said Iordanescu about Belgium.
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