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HALF-TIME: Romania 1-0 Ukraine
Another really fun half and the underdogs lead, a fantastic goal inspiring Romania to dominate. Ukraine have the better players and that’s still evident, but they’ve created almost nothing. Work for Rebrov to do.
45 min We’ll have two additional minutes. Ukraine are missing oor Zinchenkz in midfield, and I’d be trying to find a left-back solution to address that were I Sergiy Rebrov (again, I’m not).
45 min “How’s McFadden doing?” wonders Simon McMahon. “He often does co-commentary on Scottish football for the BBC, so this game will be like watching Argentina v France in the World Cup final for him.”
He’s doing OK. There was one strange moment when a Ukraine game at Hampden was mentioned and he said he was there that day, so Guy Mowbray waited for the “and”. Except there wasn’t one, he just wanted us to know the simple fact of things.
42 min Doybyk reaches a pass into the box before Burca, takes a touch that takes him away and tries to go on the outside. Burca, though, responds well enough, the ball running behind, and in the rush to bro-chest his teammate, Dragusin almost piles through the striker. Then Ratiu appears to get in on the action and that is worrying for Ukraine: Romania have something to hold on to and are playing with rare moxie and aggression.
39 min If I’m Stanciu – for avoidance of doubt, I’m not – I’m sticking this on top of Lunin, and that’s exactly what he does. But rather than seek a friendly head, he actually goes for goal and the keeper, backpeddling furiously, terrified, swipes and misses everything. He’s lucky to get away with that, and Romania, on a buzz after scoring so brilliantly, should be testing him at every opportunity.
38 min Our tempo is back! Romania boust down the other end and Man cuts in off the right, trying a curler that flicks the knee off Marin M and flies a foot or so wide of the far post.
36 min Ukraine get Mudryk away down the left and he goes on the outside, crossing well; Dragusin, under pressure and having misjudged the flight of the ball, has to send it behind via diving header and topknot combo. Again, the corner is poor but when Ukraine recycle possession, they pick out Mudryk at the back post and he lashes a volley that shoots off square, hitting Stepanenko, and Romania get it away.
35 min I’ve not seen every minute of every game, but Romania look to have the best end we’ve seen so far. They are loving this.
32 min “I’ve found the travails of Mudryk intensely fascinating, emails Ben Monroe-Lake. “As an Arsenal fan, there was a point where it seemed nailed on he was coming to our club. He was hoisting his social media skirt and dropping hints out of his garter and all the trusted rumour mongers suggested he was close to inking a deal. We all know what happened afterwards.
I’m not going to question the Mudryk’s decision-making process. He’s young and his club were in unique circumstances and needed to raise as much money as they could.
I do think it’s a great insight in to how raw talent is simply not all there is to it. As you said, Arteta has an eye for a player, so we can assume there is something there and Mudryk is not the only player to falter under Boehly’s clown-car method of player recruitment.
Yet certain clubs can be essentially ruinous for some players. Manchester United were this for a while. Many players, who have gone on to have fine careers, struggled massively there. Di Maria and Depay for example. Chelsea are also hugely guilty of this, buying large amounts of players and essentially losing a few down the back of the couch.
It’s painful to see so many promising careers so badly bungled by top level management.”
I know what you mean, but also think there’s more to it that. to take your examples, Di Maria never wanted to be at United and Depay wasn’t good enough, which isn’t to deny the total shambles they found when they arrived, rather that few many players can be brilliant everywhere – rather they need circumstances that suit – and also, football is simple but people are complex.
30 min Lunin will be feeling exceptionally poorly. It wasn’t as good clearance, but he’ll never have anticipated what came next, the proportionality of punishment not dissimilar to that famous time I curled home a perfect free-kick around my bed, and through my bedroom window from the inside, to then be banned from watching Man United v Oldham in the FA Cup semi.
OH MY DAYS WHAT A GOAL! Romania 1-0 Ukraine (Stanciu 29)
Lunin, so solid for Madrid, clips a clearance – having been sold a little short – to Marin R. He squares for Stanciu who, from 22 yards, unfurls an outswinger that shrieks, hisses and burns into the top corner!
27 min Ratiu misjudges a ball over his head – not something you want to do when that head is avatar blue – but does well to turn and clear before Mudryk can pounce, which makes it sound like he had more tie than he did. Romania then counter and for a second look to have caught Ukraine short-handed, but Matviyenko concedes a corner which again is very poor.
25 min While we were bringing about world peace below, I should note that Ukraine won – and then wasted – another corner. After a promising start, this is now not so good.
23 min “Given the unspoken laws of football that every changing room seems to follow,” writes Gregory Phillipos, “wouldn’t his nickname be Zinchenkz-y?”
I feel we may have moved on from the obligatory y-suffix – Welbz, Tsygankovz and so on – but I’m never shy of a contraction that’s in fact an expansion. In my youth I knew a lad whose surname was Hyams, leading to his being known as “Hyamzy”, which I still enjoy to this day.
22 min A poor corner is easily cleared but Dovbyk picks up possession on the edge, thwacking over the bar with Mudryk keen for a pass.
21 min Konoplya is looking to get forward whenever possible and here he is advancing now, swiping over a long cross that’s … nowhere near Dovbyk. But he gets another go shortly afterwards, swinging a ball into the corridor that forces Buerca to shank behind, Dovbyk menacing behind him.
19 min “Regarding your post on what to call Ukraine’s lovely blue kit,” begins Asa Desouza-Jones, “I would go with ‘Not a cloud in the sky, blue’. There’s a sad irony to that given the horrible situation their country has been in but as the great Arsène Wenger used to say (and I’m paraphrasing here) ‘I take pride in the fact that for 90 minutes people could say, life is beautiful. Here’s hoping they enjoy their tournament and give a bit of joy to their country-people.’”
18 min I’m not yet clear on how Romania plan to score. They’re getting it forward quickly, but they’re not offering enough support to whoever the passes are seeking, meaning they’re constantly crowded out.
16 min Still Ukraine knock it about – so far to little avail.
14 min Ratiu, the Romania right-back, has blue hair, which of course puts in mind Phyllis Pearce, but also the side who all died their hair blonde at France 98. Thank goodness there were no MBMs then is all I can say.
12 min A throw deep inside the Romania half finds Dovbyk, who turns with the flight of the ball, moving away from his marker. But Dragusin is there right away to block his shot at source.
10 min Serhiy Rebrov’s men continue to probe, looking for angles. But with Zinchenko – whose dressing-room nickname is, I trust, Zinchenkz – not yet inverting, they’re missing a bit of composure and quality in there.
8 min Dragusin looks to hump clear and gets much more knee than ball, catching Zabarnyi a sair yin. I don’t think there’s anything untoward going on, he just misses most of the ball, so VAR doesn’t have a look.
7 min And, as I type, they play into Dovbyk, back to goal, and he tees-up Tsygankov on the edge; Dragusin blocks at source.
6 min Shaparenko plays a nice ball into midfield for Konoplya and takes it back, but when he goes left he can’t quite find Mudryk. I do, though, think we’re settling into a pattern, Ukraine controlling possession and Romania looking to spring.
5 min Like yesterday’s Poland v Netherlands game, both teams are looking to attack; there’s a good tempo about this, though not much quality yet.
4 min Now it’s Romania who go over the top with Stanciu, but the ball skips off the turf and races through to Lunin.
3 min A ball over the top sees Dovbyk in behind Dragusin, but as it falls from the sky he can’t quite lower it on his foot and it runs away from him.
2 min I do like the shade of blue Ukraine are in; what are we calling it? Powder blue?
1 min Romania tear into this, pressing from the front, and Ukraine use that aggression against them, countering and finding Mudryk, who carves across the face of the box but can’t quite find a shooting lane or pass.
1 min And way we go!
James McFadden is not a name I’ve heard recently, but he’s on co-comms. I’d love to see how the appointment process works.
And the Romania players and fans rise to the challenge, thundering out their underrated banger.If they take this attitude into the game, we’re set for a proper afternoon.
The Ukraine players are wearing national flags draped over their shoulders; there’s a bit of intensity about how they’re singing their anthem.
Oh, and here come our teams!
So where is the game? Romania will, I imagine, sit deep and look to supply Denis Dragus with crosses and balls in behind while fighting for everything. Ukraine, on the other hand, will pass through midfield but also look to get their wide players one-on-one with the opposing full-backs, while Sudakov looks to slip balls down the sides and into the box with Dovbyk playing on Burca, not Dragusin, if he possibly can.
I analysed England’s win last night.
I’m looking forward to watching Thomas Frank – in the BBC studio this afternoon – as a pundit. I really enjoy his attitude and aggression, and he’s also someone i’d go out of my way to hear talking football.
Mykhailo Mudryk, then. It’s easy to forget it wasn’t just Todd Boehly legendary nose for a player that sniffed him out; Mikel Arteta was also keen, so we can probably conclude he can play. The question, then, is how to get him playing at his best, and a team likely to sit back and counter might just help with that. Whatever people think of him as a player, no one can question the ludicrousness of his pace, and I’d not be shocked if it were to prove effective during this competition.
Email! “Romania must be pretty handy if they can afford to leave Puscas and Hagi on the bench…” chuckles Julian Menz.
And don’t forget Olaru – he’s an absolute rock.
Domenico Tedesco, meanwhile, could easily be talking about me (save the “young” and “very talented” bits).
“Two former England players with me, Conor Coady and Micah Richards…” I shouldn’t snigger, but I did.
Great news dept:
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Georgiy Sudakov does. The 21-year-old number 10 established himself in the side during the qualifying campaign and, if we’re being honest, is probably playing for a move. And I’m also keen to see how Artem Dovbyk, winner of last season’s Pichichi, goes; he should have a lot of fun given the man behind him, but also given the pace of Mykhailo Mudryk and Viktor Tsygankov outside him.
Ukraine also make one change from the team given in our – Oleksandr Sazhko and Oleksandr Sereda’s – guide: Vitaliy Mykolenko is injured, so Oleks Zinchenko moves from midfield to left-back with Mykola Shaparenko taking his place in the centre.
Romania are pretty much as expected; the only alteration to the team given by Emanuel Rosu in our team guide is in the middle of defence, where it’s Andrei Burcă alongside Tottenham’s Radu Dragusin.
Right, I shall write those down, then we’ll have a think about what they mean.
Teams!
Romania (4-1-4-1): Nita; Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu; Marin M; Man, Marin R, Stanciu, Coman; Dragus. Subs: Moldovan, Tarnovanu, Rus, Nedelcearu, Alibec, Cicaldau, Puscas, Hagi, Mihaila, Olaru, Mogos, Sorescu, Racovitan, Birliga, sut.
Ukraine (4-2-3-1): Lunin; Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Stepanenko, Shaparenko; Tsygankov, Sudakov, Mudry; Dovbyk. Subs: Buschchan, Trubin, Svatok, Talovierov, Sydorchuk, Yarmolenko, Malinovskyi, Yaremchuk, Mykolenko, Brazhko, Zubkov, Bondar, Tymchyk, Vanat, Mykhailichenko.
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Preamble
One of the joys of tournament football is that it gives us an excuse to spend all day every day talking football. Yes, and one of the punishments of tournament football is that it gives other people an excuse to spend all day every talking football too, but still.
Sometimes, though, we find ourselves in a situation – such as this one – in which talking football feels gauche … yet it is incumbent upon us do so with even greater alacrity than before. Because though Ukraine are defending themselves against Vladimir Putin’s expansionist war, and though their miraculous presence at this competition is part of that story, their team is a football team, their players are football players and their football team will contain football players playing football; as such, we owe it to them to focus on them – without ignoring the stuff that’s outside of their control.
And Ukraine are a decent outfit too. Goalie Andriy Lunin did well when called upon by Real Madrid in last seasons’ run-in; defender Illia Zabarnyi has excelled at Bournemouth; Oleks Zinchenko is extremely well-suited to the less physical nature of the international game; and Mykhalo Mudryk reeks of the domestic irrelevance, tournament excellence cycle we see at such time. Then if to that you add Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko and Valencia’s Roman Yaremchuk, plus Girona’s Artem Dovbyk and Viktor Tsyhankov, you have a side well-placed to benefit from a very friendly draw.
Which brings us to Romania, a nails but prosaic squad who reached Germany by besting perennial qualifiers Switzerland in Group I – a fine effort, but one expected to end there. Until – like Ukraine, and Slovakia – they saw their opponents and thought right, we’ll have some of that.
And so, given this is the first working-day football of the competition, will we – even if it means acquainting ourselves with the thoughts of others.
Kick-off: 3pm local, 2pm BST
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