Slovakia and Romania parted ways with a draw, as expected and feared, and marched hand in hand into the round of 16 of the European Championship. The result brought back memories of the shame of Gijon. But the game was the exact opposite.
Around ten minutes after the final whistle, the stadium management on Wednesday evening in Frankfurt hit the tastes of both groups of fans. When DJ Ötzi’s cover version of “Hey Baby” blared from the stadium loudspeakers turned up to full volume, within a few seconds almost the entire stadium was hugging each other and joining in loudly. Romanian and Slovakian fans celebrated equally exuberantly their teams’ entry into the round of 16, providing the fitting finale to a big football party.
“This is the biggest moment in our careers,” Romania’s coach Edward Iordanescu summed up a few minutes later. “This means so much to everyone in our country and is a reason to celebrate. It’s just great,” added Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. One game, two winners.
Shame of Gijon 2.0? No way!
The Romanians and the Slovaks had previously played one of the most exciting duels of this European Championship, defying all fears. Since it was already clear before kick-off that a draw would be enough for both teams, many observers feared a non-aggression pact and secret agreements. Despite the desired result of 1:1, the match had nothing to do with the much-quoted shame of Gijon.
Both teams play to win
In contrast to Germany and Austria, who cheated their way into the next round of the 1982 World Cup by passing the ball around in an unsportsmanlike manner, Romania and Slovakia played for victory in almost every second. The almost entirely enthusiastic spectators, who did not let the heat and a storm spoil their mood, saw 90 minutes of tough duels, plenty of speed and a lot of heart.
There were also four yellow cards, a penalty and goals from Ondrej Duda (24th) and Razvan Marin (36th). A football match in which football is the focus. It’s amazing that such a thing still exists.
Romania’s national coach Iordanescu admitted after the final whistle that he had tried to “secure the draw” in the closing stages. However, when Slovakia took a corner in the 81st minute, he still placed two attackers directly on the halfway line for a possible counterattack, meaning that even the Romanian defensive efforts posed more of a goal threat than many of the highly praised attacking lines of supposed title favourites. English fans know who I mean.
The fans also give their all
In addition to the teams, the spectators also played a major role in this extraordinary football evening on Wednesday. Both fan groups proved that the Frankfurt stadium can become a cauldron even outside of the Bundesliga.
The Romanian fans in particular, who have been one of the discoveries of this tournament so far, once again set off a special fireworks display. They painted the stadium almost entirely yellow. When a thunderstorm swept over the stadium in the middle of the second half, most of them took off their completely wet clothes and simply continued celebrating shirtless.
“Normally I always praise my players, but today I have to praise the fans,” Iordanescu said. “You only experience something like today once in your life.” Whether that is really the case remains to be seen. But a game in which players and fans encourage each other and become a symbiosis has not been seen very often at this European Championship.
Both national coaches defend themselves against the allegations
At the very end of the evening, however, things got serious again. When asked about the speculation about cheating, both coaches addressed the critics in clear terms and defended themselves against the accusations. “Nobody can say that my team didn’t give it their all for 90 minutes,” emphasised Slovakian national coach Francesco Calzona: “Romania wanted to win just as much as we did.”
His counterpart even went a step further. “Some people should apologize to us,” Iordanescu raged. “Talking like that before the game and making such accusations against the teams and the players is a disgrace.” Romania and Slovakia actually always found the right answer, both verbally and football-wise, in Frankfurt that evening.
