Key events
86 min Change for Romania: Stanciu, scorer of the sensational goal that changed everything, departs, taking his time to enjoy a moment the like of which he may never again experience; it’s moving to watch. He’s replaced by Racovitan.
83 min “Further to Simon McMahon’s question about James McFadden,” says Stephen McCrossan, “I think he’s been refreshingly reluctant, unlike certain others, to drivel on for the sake of it. I know many people south of the border seem to really rate Ally McCoist but, in the name of God, he needs to learn to shut up occasionally. To my mind, the best co-commentator so far has been Andros Townsend.”
What you get with Coisty, I think, is likability and enthusiasm – thing which should be givens but aren’t. I agree that Townsend is really good though – and though they’re not working at this competition, of the relative newbies, Daniel Sturridge and Ashley Cole are too.
83 min Change for Ukraine, Malinovskyi pausing his study of the Argonauts of the Western Pacific to replace Sudakov.
80 min “Based on handy Google definitions,” writes Thomas Jaggers, “I would go with rabid, meaning having or proceeding from an extreme or fanatical support of or belief in something – i.e. that they are going to WIN! Versus feral meaning being in a wild state, especially after escape from captivity or domestication. Although from the sound of the chest-bumping I can see that feral also applies!”
There we go: veral and fapid.
78 min Marin R tussles with Mudryk, the pair pulling at each other. But because it’s Mudryk who goes down and Marin who tugs last, it’s the former who get the free-kick and the latter who gets booked. As befits his and his team’s performance, he’s not at all happy with it, his mates having to pull him away from the ref, and this really is an effort of rare intensity from Romania.
77 min Romania are absolutely loving this.
75 min “Zidane won with pretty much every team he played for,” says Thomas Yelland, “made those teams vastly better. Unlike the some of the other names foisted around, he would get involved in the less glamourous aspects of the game. And unlike certain more recent contenders, it didn’t feel like the things he did were anything but in service of the game – the footwork, flicks and passed all he purpose, rather than showboating or beefing up his stats.”
I like showboating, but otherwise, Zidane was a Bordeaux till 24 and not that good at Madrid – they might have been better to just keep Makelele. Of course he was brilliant, just that I’d have him a long, long way below Maradona, Messi and both Ronaldos.
73 min Ukraine are searching and when Sudakov evades a pair of challenges, he spreads wide to Yarmolenko, who crosses low … then in slides Dragusin, sticking the ball behind prior to bro-chesting various teammates. I said earlier that Romania are rabid for this, and I’m not sure if feral is a level above or below that, but what the former is, they are.
72 min Another change for Ukraine: Konoplya is taken off, perhaps before he’s sent off, with Tymchyk replacing him.
71 min This time, Mudryk’s delivery isn’t bad, but it misses everything and Dragusin charges forward, eventually wearing the inevitable trip.
71 min Er, not much, his kick flicking the wall and flying behind for another corner to waste.
70 min Ukraine win another free-kick, this time 25 yards out and left of centre. Their set-pieces have been very poor today, but what can Sudakov conjure here?
68 min Konoplya pulls down Miahila and is booked. Free-kick Romania. out on the left; someone, Stanciu I think, whips it into the near side-netting.
66 min The thing about Ukraine is that they’ve struggled to create then, when they went behind, the Romania players found a way to harness the brilliance of the goal, set about them with bad intentions, and it’s been one-way traffic ever since.
65 min Ukraine win a free-kick 30 yards out, left of centre, and Mudryk curls towards the far post; it’s headed clear and, from the edge, Yarmolenko larrups a snap-shot over the bar.
62 min And now Ukraine send on Brazhko, Yarmolenko and Yaremchuk for Stepanenko, Tsygankov and Sharapenko.
62 min Ch ch ch changes: Romania send on Hagi and Mihaila for Man and Coman.
60 min I’m not sure what Ukraine do here. They desperately need to find some confidence before their next game against Slovakia, but they also need this not to get worse.
58 min What a moment! Romania haven’t played a tournament since 016, have won only one game in the entire history of the Euros … and they’re taking Ukraine to Sketchley! But wait … was Dragus offside? No he was not, and it’s a goal!
GOAL! Romania 3-0 Ukraine (Dragus 57)
The corner goes short from Stanciu to Man, who sways inside then outside, totally foxing Sharapenko who’ll need to pay to get back in, and when he drills square, Dragus taps home from close range! Mayham in the Romania end, and game over!
56 min Romania really buzzing! Stanciu has a shot blocked, they work it to Ratiu, and his fierce near post shot is turned behind by Lunin; cheers for coming old mate.
54 min Romania are buzzing!
GOAL! Romania 2-0 Ukraine (Marin R 53)
Oh Andriy. Oh Andriy. Romania break well, D powering through midfield. Then, when the ball goes right, it comers back inside, Man overrunning it and and Sharapenko sliding in, it breaks to Marin who clobbers first-time and early. But even so, Lunin – not helped by Dragusin waving a leg at it in front of him – allows the shot under his dive. He is having an absolute karius here, but Romania are in dreamland! Their end is wild and I wish I was in it.
51 min Romania are back on top, feeding Man down the right; his cross wins a throw, then Stanciu’s footwork sustains the attack only for Sudakov to bring Ukraine away. But he pauses for a crucial split-second when Dovbyk makes a run outside him, the option vanishes, and various checks and feints yield nothing further.
49 min Ukraine knock it about, the crowd booing as there’s a Romanian player down; it’s Dragus, who takes a bang off Stepanenko, nothing major. But the way his teammates pursue the ref when the ball goes dead tells us that they are rabid for this game and rightly so.
47 min “I totally agree with your point, footballers are people and their circumstances sometimes don’t gel with a club or area,” returns Ben Monroe-Lake. “My chagrin is more reserved for these superclubs who tend to refine the process of club/player mismatch to a fine art as a result of their huge recruitment numbers and lack of forethought.
Take Sancho (I’m sorry United fans, I’m not trying to have a go) but why did United buy him? There was obviously no plan, he was just a name and that was enough and it tanked his career.
Obviously, he has bounced back, which is great but there will be some who never can, sometimes for reasons outside of their control or because they don’t have a support network to help them cope with the bad times. This will happen anyway, it just feels to me like the circumstances for it to happen are amplified by certain clubs and it can often be traced back who and how they are investing.
Anyway, this is all a massive tangent, I can’t watch the match so appreciate the hard work you min-by-mins undertake to keep me in the know.”
Yes, I agree – Sancho isn’t, I don’t think, suited to the Prem and perhaps not to United. I’d not say there’d been no thought as to what he might do, rather the quality of that thinking was poor.
46 min Nice from Stanciu, who shifts it and tries an inswinger this time, the ball missing the far post by a fair way.
46 min We go again!
Half-time email: “The brilliant Paul Doyle, formerly of the Guardian, once compared Lionel Messi to a hot house flower,” recalls Kári Tulinius. “To fully bloom he needed the right conditions. I’ve often thought about that when players like Mudryk, who I’ve seen play brilliantly, fail to prosper in a side. The opposite, to steal a metaphor from Tupac, is the rose growing from concrete. That always makes me think of Zidane, who could start a ballet at a bar fight.”
Ha! I’m going to get pelters for saying this, but aesthetic though he was and despite his various goals at crucial moments, i can never quite understand the company he’s put in when categorising players. He is, in my opinion, miles and miles away from best of my lifetime and below a fair few who never make it into the kind of conversations I’m referencing.
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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 Steve Wilson 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.