LIVE Slovakia – Romania, friendly in Bratislava

Slovakia – Romania or the duel of the losers from the “barrage” semifinal. The replay of the EURO 2024 group game, that draw that sent us arm in arm with the Slovaks in the “eighties”, will count only for statistics. Both national teams were defeated last Thursday, so today's game has no real stake.

The Romanian national team lost at the limit in Istanbul, 0-1 against Turkey, while Slovakia lost a group game against Kosovo, score 3-4.

In the absence of Mircea Lucescu, Ionel Gane will be on the national team benchone of the seconds of “Il Luce”. He has a PRO license and knows the national team players well, having been active in the first representative team since February 2022. He is in his second term among the “tricolors”, after the one held in the period 2017-2019, when Cosmin Contra was the selector.

Even if the staff coordinated from a distance by Mircea Lucescu will keep many of the starters from Istanbul on the field, authorized GSP sources reveal that some new names will also appear in the starting formula, in all compartments. Among them, Nicolae Stanciu, the leader of the current generation, only reserved last Thursday.

LIVE at 21:45 » Slovakia – Romania

Slovakia – Romania, probable teams:

Slovakia: Dubravka – Valjent, Vavro, Obert, Hancko – Bero, Lobotka, Duda – Sauer, Strelec, Haraslin
Reserves: Rodak, Takac, Pekarik, Gyomber, Suslov, Mraz, Benes, Tupt, Hrosovsky, Krcik, Rigo, Kapralik
Selector: Francesco Calzona (57 years old)

Romania: Ionuț Radu – Rațiu, Drăgușin, Ghiță, Bancu – Fl. Tănase, Vl. Dragomir, Stanciu – Man, Miculescu, Baiaram
reserves: Aioani, L. Popescu, Coubiș, V. Ghiță, Bîrligea, Ianis Hagi, Burcă, V. Dragomir, Mihăilă, M. Coman, Sorescu
coach: Mircea Lucescu (80 years old). Coach today: Ionel Gane (54 years old)

Stadium: Tehelne pole (Bratislava) – Capacity: 22,500 seats

Mircea Lucescu did not travel to Bratislava

On Sunday morning, at the technical meeting preceding the last training before the trip to Slovakia, the selector Mircea Lucescu got sick.

The 80-year-old coach passed out and was rushed to hospital, where doctors found he had suffered “major heart rhythm disturbances”.

The coach, who received a severe diagnosis at the beginning of the year, “was talking to the players and felt sick. He stopped his speech, sat on a chair and stopped reacting, he seemed to be unable to breathe,” said witnesses who witnessed the disturbing scenes.

Lucescu seemed to be unable to breathe, which is why the emergency intervention of the doctor from the first team was requested, Claudiu Stamatescu. The medical staff of the national team gave him first aidafter which two SMURD ambulances were called, which took him to the University Hospital.

The diagnosis provided by the doctors at the University: heart rhythm disorders, so the renowned coach will remain hospitalized for a while. GSP sources say that Lucescu would have consumed heavily after the defeat with Turkey, which ended Romania's road to the World Football Championship, and would not have slept at all that night.

As GSP first announced, Mircea Lucescu underwent a coronary angiogram on Monday morning. The medical procedure was performed in the cardiology clinic at the Bucharest Emergency University Hospital, by Professor Dragoș Vinereanu and Doctor Cristian Udroiu. The minimally invasive intervention revealed nothing special, just normal problems in an 80-year-old patient.

As such, there was no need to mount an additional stent in addition to the ones that had been placed on Mircea Lucescu in Ukraine. However, in order to solve the problem of rhythm disturbances, it was decided that the renowned coach should be fitted with a defibrillator to regulate the rhythm of the heartbeat.

Ionel Gane, occasional selector: “We have to bring joy to Mircea Lucescu”

Ionel Gane (54 years old), the second coach of Mircea Lucescu, prefaced, in the conference preceding today's game, the duel with Slovakia:

“We are fine because Mircea is also fine, and the mood has changed for the better, because yesterday (no sunday) there were quite hard times. My thought is only for this match. Both I and my staff must mobilize the team to the maximum. Even if it is a friendly match, we will have to treat it very seriously, because we are thinking first of all to bring joy to nea Mircea, and then we will see.“

Yes, there are emotions, but normal. There were emotions when I was a player and part of the national team. (…) But they are normal emotions. After all, we are playing an international match, we represent Romania and we will give everything to the maximum.”

Regarding missing out on World Cup qualification, Gane said:

“It affected me, because for me the qualification was very important, but it was not possible. The boys gave everything. We have to move on, life and football don't stop here. We move on, because there will be other battles to win. The boys learned from all these matches. For me, this failure to qualify for the World Cup is like a scar that will surely heal in time, but all we have to do is move forward with our heads held high and bring more victories for Romania.

“Mircea Lucescu showed us and continues to show us a life lesson through what he transmitted and transmits. Even this morning, his passion, his ardor, every moment he has with us and with the team, I think he is unique in his own way and special. He is a huge man, I think he is a unique coach. And, at the same time, I hope that tomorrow (no today) let's make him happy, and when we meet again let's be calmer,” added “Jerry” Gane.

Nicolae Stanciu's exhortation: “Let's respect our job! We play for ourselves, for the coefficient”

(…) I felt a lot of disappointment after the match against Turkey, I still feel it now. At the next World Cup I will be 37-38 years old, I think it was my last chance.

The match will definitely be for Mircea Lucescu, we want to make him happy, we all know how much football means to him. We know he would have loved to be here. For him we want to make a good match, and at the end to be able to dedicate the victory to him.

It was an honor and a pleasure to have a coach like him, who is one of the greatest in the world. I consider myself lucky to have had this chance. If the game against Turkey was the last together, I wish him good health and that he can continue to do what he wants most.

The players know my message, we have had discussions in the past. You can't talk about a friendly match as long as you wear the Romanian emblem and enter the field to give your best. The match is important, it's for the coefficient, for us, to respect our job, the jersey and all of you who we represent.

– Nicolae Stanciu, Romanian midfielder

Răzvan Burleanu: “I took into account the suspension of Tuesday's match, I spoke with the Slovaks and with UEFA”

Răzvan Burleanu, the president of the Romanian Football Federation, claimed on Sunday that the suspension of the match between Slovakia and Romania was taken into account.

“It's the first time we go through such an experience, it was a crisis situation, especially since the players were with him in the technical meeting, but we hope that the players will recover as well.

Mr. Lucescu, as soon as he arrived at the hospital, wanted to return to the training base. Yes, as soon as he got to the hospital he wanted to go back. He is a very determined man, we hope that this motivates the players as well.

How did this crisis situation arise, we also considered the suspension of the match, we discussed with our colleagues in Slovakia and with UEFA. Everything depended on Mr. Lucescu's medical condition. The match will be played at the scheduled time. It was just a working scenario, especially since the players felt this tension, being there, next to Mr. Lucescu when this event happened”, Răzvan Burleanu said.

The president of the FRF also stated that there is no question of Mircea Lucescu being with the first representative in Slovakia:

“Even if Mr. Lucescu's medical condition is stable, we cannot expose him to any risk, no matter how much he would like to. I am sure that even the doctors would not allow him to leave the hospital and make such a trip. As soon as we have new information, we will communicate to you immediately.”

Romania's next official match: September 25

After the missed preliminaries for WC 2026 qualification, Romania will play the next official match on September 25, 2026. This will be the date when the “tricolors” will debut in the Nations League group. The opponent will be Sweden, and the match will be played away.

Later, on September 28, Romania will play again against Bosnia and Herzegovina, just like in the WC preliminaries. The duel will be played at home, from 21:45.

The series of matches will continue on October 2, with a duel in Poland, and will end with the return match against Sweden, on home soil. The next window in which Romania will play will be in November: on November 14, the “tricolors” will receive a visit from the Poles, then, on November 17, they will go to Bosnia.

Calzona and ends, most likely, the mandate on the bank of Slovakia

Slovakia coach Franceso Calzona said he expects his players to give their all in the friendly against Romania on March 31. On April 1, the Italian will be free of contract.

Calzona's contract with the Slovak Federation expires after the match with Romania. There is little chance of him continuing, according to sport.sk. The Italian qualified the Slovakian national team for EURO 2024, where they faced the “tricolors” in a match that ended 1-1. Then, the two national teams went together in the eighth.

“I told the players in the dressing room, right after the game (no after the game with Kosovo, 3-4), that we are all professionals and we have to approach the match against Romania in the same way.

As we have always done, we have 5 practices ahead of us, and whoever convinces me the most will play for this team. Here they play on merit, because it is the national team. Whoever convinces me will enter the field. I will not accept an improper approach to the match.

We have to respect the people who come to the stadium and therefore we have to play at a high level“, said Calzona before the sad duel with Romania, according to the cited source.

Francesco Calzona, Slovakia coach // photo: Imago Images

Vladimír Weiss Sr., Martin Ševela, Adrián Guľa, Michal Gašparík or Jaroslav Kentoš could replace Calzona at the helm of the Slovakian national team.

Romania plays in the most “green” and spectacular stadium in Central Europe!

Romania plays tonight in the “greenest” stadium in Europe. About 50% of the energy not required for heating and cooling the stadium is produced from renewable sources.

The “Tehelné pole” stadium has a capacity of 22,500 spectators and replaced the old arena in Bratislava, which was demolished in the summer of 2013. It offers maximum comfort and experience for visitors of all categories through its facilities.