Romania - Northern Ireland, the first "training" for EURO 2024

The temperature of the domestic football is rising. The preparations of the national team for the final tournament of EURO 2024 are in full swing, and today marks the first match of the national team this year, opponent: Northern Ireland. The squad has already been outlined in broad strokes, there is no more room nor time for big surprises, only potential injuries could force adjustments. For the coach, it's time for fine-tuning. There are quite a few issues, the enthusiasm is not lacking, but what's missing are matches on their feet for many of the players.

Coach Edward Iordănescu stated that he is extremely concerned about players who don't play much at foreign club teams but emphasized that he is going for continuity and homogeneity, highlighting that he cannot make "dramatic" changes to the squad with just one action before the final tournament of the European Championship in Germany. Iordănescu made several statements on this subject: "The national team matches this month represent the first and only real test we have available for EURO 2024 preparation. The friendlies scheduled in the summer, just before the final tournament, will be in a different context, with different objectives already in place. For a more accurate perspective on the resources we can rely on at EURO, we decided to call up a larger number of players for this action. However, and I want to emphasize this, the players who are not on this list now do not automatically mean they will be absent from the squad for the European Championship! Just as those present now do not have any guarantee of their participation in EURO 2024 through this call-up! There are two filters after which I will decide the squad with which Romania will approach the final tournament in Germany. The first is how the called-up players will react to the training sessions in these days and to the two matches against Northern Ireland and Colombia, and the second is represented by the performance of each monitored player at their clubs, from the end of March until the national team reunion prior to EURO 2024." The coach added: "I have full confidence in the united group that achieved the qualification performance of Romania and wrote a beautiful page of history for the national team. The performance of these players has already demonstrated to everyone in the qualifiers the level we can reach, and it is one of the arguments for which they are present in today's squad. Convinced as I have always been of the potential and spirit of our players, I assure you that I am always guided by a single objective: achieving sporting performance that will delight all Romanians!"

The coach also addressed the issue of minutes played by certain players in club teams: "I am extremely concerned about the situation of players who don't get minutes at club teams. I confess I had different expectations. However, our realism in self-assessment led us to EURO, so we have the duty to be very objective in analysis. It's fair to say that we rely on continuity in the squad, it's the most objective scenario. In one action, I don't know what people expected us to rebuild in the national team and why we should have done it. OK, we have problems at the club level, but there's a group we've built that has performed. These guys have delighted millions of Romanians, we must continue to give them credit. Of course, there are other players we are monitoring, but we have to go for stability. That doesn't mean surprises can't arise. But broadly speaking, we've gone for homogeneity, we can't change so dramatically... not on the go and not in one action. Our club teams struggle in European competitions and then, yes, we rely heavily on foreign players. Who, even if some have difficulties in asserting themselves, still play at a completely different level." Iordănescu mentioned that Romania's group opponents are much better off in terms of international experience: "Compared to us, Slovakia is at their third consecutive European Championship. So, they are much better off than us. And 13-14 of their players were also at the last EURO, so that means important experience for them. Plus, they had 6 players in European cup groups and 10 in the European spring. It doesn't even make sense to compare ourselves with Belgium, because it's clear they are superior to us in terms of individual level."

• Squad of 29 players

Edward Iordănescu has called up 29 players for the friendly matches against Northern Ireland and Colombia. Romania will face Northern Ireland today, at 21:45, at the National Arena in Bucharest, and the match against Colombia will take place on Tuesday, March 26, at 21:30, at the Civitas Metropolitano stadium in Madrid. Players for the first action of this year are: goalkeepers: Horaţiu Moldovan (Atletico Madrid/Spain, 9 caps/0 goals), Florin Niţă (Gaziantep/Turkey, 19/0), Ştefan Târnovanu (FCSB, 1/0), Marian Aioani (FC Rapid 1923, 0/0); defenders: Andrei Raţiu (Rayo Vallecano/Spain, 15/1), Cristian Manea (CFR Cluj, 24/2), Vasile Mogoş (CFR Cluj, 4/0), Andrei Burcă (Al-Okhdood | Saudi Arabia, 25/1), Radu Drăguşin (Tottenham/England, 13/0), Adrian Rus (Pafos/Cyprus, 19/1), Ionuţ Nedelcearu (Palermo/Italy, 25/2), Bogdan Racoviţan (Rakow/Poland, 0/0), Raul Oprut (AFC Hermannstadt, 3/0), Deian Sorescu (Gaziantep/Turkey, 14/0); midfielders: Nicolae Stanciu (Damac/Saudi Arabia, 66/14), Marius Marin (Pisa/Italy, 15/0), Alexandru Cicâldău (Konyaspor/Turkey, 35/4), Răzvan Marin (Empoli/Italy, 52/3), Olimpiu Moruţan (Ankaragucu/Turkey, 14/1), Darius Olaru (FCSB, 15/0), Adrian Şut (FCSB, 0/0), Dennis Man (Parma/Italy, 20/6), Valentin Mihăilă (Parma/Italy, 17/4), Ianis Hagi (Deportivo Alaves/Spain, 31/4), Denis Drăguş (Gaziantep/Turkey, 8/2), Florinel Coman (FCSB, 12/1); forwards: George Puşcaş (Bari/Italy, 40/11), Denis Alibec (Muaither/Qatar, 36/5), Florin Tănase (Al-Okhdood/ | Saudi Arabia, 17/2). Before participating in EURO 2024, Romania will play two more friendly matches in June, both in Bucharest, at the Steaua stadium: on Tuesday, June 4, against Bulgaria, and on Saturday, June 8, against the Liechtenstein national team. Romania has been drawn into Group E at the final tournament of the European Football Championship - EURO 2024, alongside Belgium, Slovakia, and the winner of play-off B, according to the draw held at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.