EURO 2024
Honours even as Romania and Slovakia progress
A rainy Deutsche Bank park played host to an entertaining 1-1 draw in Group E as both Romania and Slovakia ensured their passage through to the UEFA Euro 2024 knockouts.
Slovakia 1-1 Romania
Goals: 1-0 Duda 24’ (assist: Kucka), 1-1 R. Marin 37' (pen.)
Such was the state of the Group E standings prior to this encounter, Slovakia and Romania knew that a draw would take both of them through to the knockout stages. Worries that this encounter in Frankfurt would thus turn into a dull stalemate were soon dashed when the teams quickly settled in for an end-to-end affair. Francesco Calzona's side were just shading proceedings when they hit the front with an eye-catching opener. Juraj Kucka's arcing centre was perfect for former Hertha Berlin and Cologne midfielder Ondrej Duda, who headed back across Florin Niță for 1-0. Beaten by Belgium in their previous game, Romania's determination to drag themselves back here was quickly apparent and they earned a big chance to level from the penalty spot when Ianis Hagi was felled by Dávid Hancko in the box. Răzvan Marin's subsequent net-buster brought Romania parity. With a second-half downpour taking the pace out of the game, Dúbravka saving a testing Marin drive and Denis Drăguș skying the follow-up were the highlights as fans of both sides started the qualification party together as time ticked down.