Rafael van der Wart: "Romania surprised. Especially in the match against Ukraine: what a goal, what a result!"

Former Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart spoke about the opponent of his country's national team in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2024 - the national team of Romania.

"I'm following the Romanian national team at this Euro. I must say that I have a lot of Romanian friends and they were very pessimistic before the European Championship. But in the end, Romania surprised. Especially in the first match against Ukraine: what a goal, what a result!

But the Netherlands team's performance is not the best so far. They beat Poland only due to a goal at the end of the match (2:1 - editor's note), then a draw with France (0:0 - editor's note), and then a terrible game with Austria (2:3 - editor's note). That's the worst match I've ever seen! But maybe that's a good thing. Such failed games often serve as a wake-up call that shakes up the team and in the next match they play quite differently.

If we take into account the quality of the Dutch players, the clubs they play for, we are clear favorites in the match against Romania. Yes, there is some pressure due to the fact that Romania was a surprise at this tournament, but we have to beat this team," Gazeta Sporturilor quotes van der Wart as saying.