EURO 2024 The match of a generation: Romania - Holland

Today the national team is playing the most important match of the last 24 years. This can be the match of a generation, a restart for the entire domestic football phenomenon. The premises are good, our formation has shown that it can perform bravely, this being noticed by everyone, including today's opponents. There is no need to preemptively lie, Holland is the favorite, but the bad atmosphere in the team led by Ronald Koeman, who also does not enjoy much credit in his country, can represent an advantage for our team, a real champion in the chapter cohesion. Regardless of the result, we should say a big "Thank you!" to the tricolors. for the moments offered so far in this final tournament, for excitement and joy. That we all don't know how to enjoy ourselves is obvious and the proof is the specialists who, after a somewhat unexpected qualification for the last 16, started digging through the statistics, to prove that we have problems with shots on goal, with possession, with successful dribbling... Obviously, the critical spirit should not be abandoned, but neither should it be forced, just for the sake of saying something bad. With all the valid squad, the selector Edward Iordănescu can assemble a team exactly as he wants and as his inspiration dictates. The mistakes in the match against Belgium must be avoided this time, especially since there is no longer the "right to appeal" in this phase of the competition. The selector Edward Iordănescu stated that the match of the tricolors is one of "now or never", a chance you come across once in your life: "We are definitely facing the biggest challenge in our journey together. The history of duels with Holland, the individual values of the opponent, his huge experience in such contexts at this level, we have conquered so far: yes, Holland is the favorite. And everything we have conquered so far, we have conquered through unity, ambition and sacrifice. Now we need unity every second, unprecedented ambition and total sacrifice in one direction. If before every match at EURO I said that the boys are ready, now I say they are ready but we also need an answer from their side that I can only give after the match. An answer that no one can give us now but them: how badly do we want more? What we have achieved so far is not a little .But those who take their fate into their own hands, like real men, are those who are not satisfied with much, nor with little. There are those who want EVERYTHING! When millions of Romanians sing our anthem at the same time as the players, it's a line that today matters more than ever for us: "Now or never, carve out another destiny". It's now or never, that's the truth. With whom you meet once in your life. And if the group will react according to the image in which it was built and performed, then it will really make its own destiny. A destiny".

Andrei Raţiu, one of the fittest tricolor footballers, said that our team must play an almost perfect match to win the Euro 2024 round of 16 duel with the Netherlands: "The Dutch are players of the highest level. I think we have to play an almost perfect match to win, be very focused and take advantage of our chances. I am privileged to be part of this generation and I hope to continue to be part of it. A very important match awaits us". He believes that the tricolors should not be underestimated: "I hope they don't underestimate us, because we earned our respect by winning the group and we have great potential."

The Dutch Memphis Depay declared, before today's match, that his team can only improve their game after the group stage: "Against Austria (n.r. defeat with 2-3), I think it was my best match in this tournament. If you score a goal, of course we have to do more, but I was happy with my duels. It was not a difficult game for us as a team. It's difficult at the highest level and you can feel it. But I think we can only improve our game here."

The German referee Felix Zwayer will lead this game in the center.

Zwayer will be helped on the two lines by Stefan Lupp and Marco Achmuller, and the reserve will be Daniel Siebert. Bastian Dankert, Christian Dingert and the Frenchman Jerôme Brisard will be in the VAR Chamber. It is the second consecutive match of Romania at Euro-2024 refereed by a brigade from Germany, after the match with Slovakia, score 1-1, Daniel Siebert was in the center, and Felix Zwayer was the reserve.

The Romanian national team will meet the Netherlands, today, in the round of 16 of Euro 2024, from 19:00, in Munich.