Mircea Lucescu: "I am sure Romania will pass the Netherlands. Perhaps, it will even become the European champion"

Former Dynamo Kyiv head coach Mircea Lucescu assessed the prospects of the Romanian national team both in the confrontation with the Netherlands in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2024 and in the tournament as a whole, assuming that this team can win the title of European champion.

"Iordanescu (Edward Iodranescu - head coach of the Romanian national team - ed.) has done a great job in the national team, and I am convinced that Romania can beat the Netherlands in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2024.

What is so special about the current Romanian national team? A mentally strong team has been created, which is lacking now, for example, the Italian national team. The individual qualities of the Romanian national team do not correspond to the individual qualities of great teams. It is helped by the mentality and organization of the game, all the players sacrifice themselves for the team. The current Romanian national team is a team that plays well in defense while being individually strong in attack. The Romanian national team has grown a lot in the last 2-3 years.

At this Euro, the top teams still seem to be masking themselves, not showing what they are capable of. But maybe it will be a different story. I'm sure that the Romanian national team will end up being the big surprise of the tournament and in doing so, I don't rule out that they will even become European champions. Just like it happened once with Denmark and Greece. Perhaps now it will be the turn of Austria, Switzerland or Romania," Tuttosport quoted Lucescu as saying.