De Bruyne crowns Belgium’s 2-0 victory over Romania to put the Euro 2024 campaign on track
Kevin De Bruyne has scored and Belgium has got their Euro 2024 campaign up and up and over Romania at Cologne.
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — In front of Belgium’s royal family, King Kev sealed the win.
Belgium has come back from its shock at being defeated by Slovakia in the opening match in the European Championship by beating Romania 2 to 0 on Saturday.
Kevin De Bruyne’s goal in the second half secured the victory following Youri Tielemans scored in second minute of play at Cologne Stadium.
The Belgian the King Philippe as well as Queen Mathilde.
“We knew what we had to accomplish. We needed to win, or we’d be back home.” De Bruyne said. “I will do everything I can to keep the lads on track.”
It was exactly the kind of thing Belgium required following the Slovakia shocker which raised the possibility of an early withdrawal from a major event after the team was eliminated at during the stage that was the beginning of 2022’s World Cup.
Tielemans made the team that is the No. 3 club in the world frenzied start by scoring from the outside of the field. De Bruyne converted direct from Belgium goalkeeper Koen Casteels’ long strike during the 80th.
The result means that all the four sides in Group E are on three points. There is everything to play to win in the last round of matches on Wednesday. Belgium takes on Ukraine and Romania faces Slovakia.
“I’m glad we have were able to win the game. It was crucial to score 3 points” Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco declared.
Although Belgium triumphed but there was more disappointment in the case of Romelu Lukaku, who had another goal disallowed by VAR during the Euros.
However, he was at the heart of his team’s fantastic beginning when he laid the ball off to Tielemans to strike low from the outside into the box.
Belgium has been accused of not living up to expectation in previous matches and the opening loss could not have helped the team’s confidence heading into Saturday’s game.
Tielemans goals seemed to ease the pressure and Belgium was dominant throughout the second half, claiming 67% possession.
Lukaku believed he had scored following the break He thought he scored, however, VAR found he strayed offside, before firing over Romania goalkeeper Florin Nita.
The longer the match went through with no Belgium scoring a second goal, the more tension built.
Dennis Man could have evened the score after running in the goal area but was thwarted by the defenders of Casteels.
The keeper then stepped up by kicking a long ball into the air and De Bruyne raced on to and volleyed home.
Tedesco was of the opinion that his team waited too long to secure the victory.
“Scoring four or five goals tonight was possible,” the coach said. “It is important to create chances, but you have to kill the game earlier for sure.”
under former Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez, Portugal advanced into the knockout stage following an impressive victory of 3-0 against Turkey within the Group F. Georgia picked up its first point in an important tournament after draw against to the Czech Republic 1-1 and is still hopeful of making it to the knockout phase.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson