Pro ShotsGeorge Puscas
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 20:44
George Puscas warns the Netherlands. Let everyone who cares about the Dutch team not think that Romania is a lucky opponent in the round of 16 of the European Championship in Germany.
“Are they relieved in the Netherlands? I don’t know if you should be,” responds the 28-year-old attacker from Romania, which emerged as the surprise winner of group E as an opponent of the Dutch national team.
Tough team
“We have a tough team, I think. We have shown what we are capable of,” said the attacker who is under contract with the Italian Genoa, referring to the 3-0 win over Ukraine and the 1-1 draw against Slovakia , which relegated Belgium to second place in the group.
“We played well against Slovakia, we were compact. We simply have a strong team. I think the Netherlands should be a bit more concerned. In any case, we respect every opponent at the European Championship, but we will compete with everyone.”
Watch Romania’s three matches at the European Championship:
The Netherlands and Romania will play each other for the fifteenth time on Tuesday. Of the fourteen previous encounters, the Dutch team won 10. Three matches ended in a draw. Romania managed to win once. That was in October 2007 in the qualifying group for the 2008 European Championship, when it ended 1-0 in Romania. The Dutch team included Clarence Seedorf, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben.
At the 2008 European Championship, both countries also faced each other. The Dutch, already assured of the next round, won 2-0 with a B-team.
The last mutual meeting dates back to 2017. The Netherlands won 3-0 in Bucharest. The goals were scored by Memphis Depay, Ryan Babel and Luuk de Jong.
Puscas not afraid of the Dutch: ‘We are a tough team, we are ready’
But that was seven years ago. The Netherlands of today is vulnerable, certainly when the opponent applies high pressure and disrupts the game of Oranje, as Austria demonstrated in the 3-2 loss debacle. Maybe the Romanians are actually relieved with the number 3 from group D as opponent?
“We will be well prepared in any case and listen carefully to the coach,” Puscas answers when asked whether Romania will copy Austria’s successful playing style against the Netherlands. “Be sure that we will be there. There is enough time until Tuesday to let all the players rest well and be physically and mentally ready against the Netherlands.”
Warrior
For Puscas, the match against the Dutch team will be a reunion with a number of Dutch players he knows from Serie A, such as defenders Denzel Dumfries and Stefan de Vrij. But the attacker also has something to say about Virgil van Dijk.
“Virgil van Dijk is one of the best defenders in the world, a fighter,” says the Romanian. “But this is not the time to assess opponent players individually, we are playing against a whole team. The focus must be how we can beat the Netherlands.”
2024-06-27 18:44:52
#worried
