cnn
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Ukraine suffered a disastrous start to their Euro 2024 campaign, losing 3-0 to Romania in their first Group E match on Monday.
Captain Nicolae Stanciu put Romania ahead with a superb goal in the 29th minute, before second-half goals from Răzvan Marin and Denis Drăguș decided the exciting tie.
Everything was going according to plan for Ukraine in the early stages of the game. The team classified 24 places higher in the world ranking than Romania dominated the ball, but soon things began to go wrong.
Stanciu’s brilliant long-range shot seemed to launch the ball. Blue and yellow of his game and the team never fully recovered.
Romania, suddenly flaunting a formidable sense of hope, doubled its lead shortly into the second half when Marin saw his 53rd-minute shot crash into the back of the net.
In truth, Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin could have done better with his save, but he let the powerful shot slide under his outstretched hand.
He the tricolors He continued to frustrate Ukraine’s first line of attack and soon scored his third.
This time, there was little Lunin could have done, as the brilliant Drăguș was left free in the penalty area to finish from close range.
There was an avalanche of yellow cards at the final whistle, as the Romanian bench rushed onto the pitch to celebrate in front of the team’s traveling fans.
Ukraine is playing a major tournament for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
Before the match, the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) displayed a piece of the destroyed grandstand of Kharkiv’s Sonyachny stadium on the streets of Munich, Germany.
The UAF said the stadium, used as a co-host for Euro 2012, had been destroyed by Russian troops in May 2022. The stand will tour Germany, following the Ukrainian team during its group stage matches.
Ukraine’s players looked embarrassed as they walked off the pitch at full-time, but will have the chance to start their Euro 2024 campaign against Slovakia on Friday.