Ukraine or Iceland will be part of the same group as the Romanian national football team at EURO 2024, after both teams won, on Thursday evening, in the semifinals of the B play-off for the final tournament in Germany, writes AGERPRES.
Ukraine team PHOTO: Andriy Shevchenko – Facebook/shevaofficial
Ukraine won against Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1, in Zenica, after an incredible finish. The hosts opened the scoring with an own goal by Mikola Matvienko (57), who deflected Dedic's cross. Ukraine was motivated and managed to turn the score in the end. Roman Iaremciuk equalized (85) just four minutes after entering the field, and Artem Dovbik scored the winning goal (88), from the same Iaremciuk's cross.
Iceland managed to win a spectacular victory in Budapest, 4-1 against Israel. The hero of the islanders was Albert Gudmundsson, the forward of the Genoa team, who scored a hat-trick.
Israel, Romania's former opponent in the preliminaries, opened the score with
“the veteran” Eran Zahavi (31 – penalty), but Iceland equalized through Gudmundsson (39), from a free kick. In just three minutes, the Nordics managed to take the lead, through the goal of Arnor Traustason (42), after a corner executed by Gudmundsson.
The end of the match was a dramatic one: the Israelis missed the chance to equalize, after Zahavi sent wide from the penalty spot (80), Gudmundsson signed the breakaway for the islanders after a quick phase (83), he also closed the scoreboard (87), after goalkeeper Glazer rejected Thorsteinsson's shot. Iceland's victory was also facilitated by the fact that Israel remained in ten players from the min. 73, when Roy Revivo saw the red card.
Ukraine will be the host team in the final of play-off B, in Wroclaw (Poland). The winner between Ukraine and Iceland will complete Group E, which also includes Romania, Belgium and Slovakia.
In the final of play-off A, Poland and Wales will face each other, both obtaining clear victories in the semi-finals. Poland disposed of Estonia 5-1, but the Baltics played for more than an hour with ten men. Wales beat Finland 4-1. The winner will complete Group D, which also includes the Netherlands, Austria and France.
The final of play-off C will oppose Georgia and Greece. Georgia defeated Luxembourg 2-0, in a match in which the guests played the last part of the match numerically inferior. Greece beat Kazakhstan 5-0. The winner of this bracket will complete Group F, which also includes Turkey, Portugal and the Czech Republic.
Results:
Play-off A – semi-finals
Poland – Estonia 5-1
They scored: Przemyslaw Frankowski 22, Piotr Zielinski 50, Jakub Piotrowski 70, Nicola
Zalewski 74, Sebastian Szymanski 77, respectively Martin Vetkal 79.
Red card: Maksim Paskotsi (Estonia) 27.
Wales – Finland 4-1
They scored: David Brooks 3, Neco Williams 38, Brennan Johnson 47, Daniel James 86, respectively Teemu Pukki 45.
Final (March 26)
Wales – Poland
Play-off B – semi-finals
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Ukraine 1-2
They scored: Mikola Matvienko (own goal) 57, respectively Roman Iaremciuk 85, Artem Dovbik 88.
Israel – Iceland 1-4, in Budapest
They scored: Eran Zahavi 31 – penalty, respectively Albert Gudmundsson 39, 83, 87, Arnor Traustason 42.
Eran Zahavi missed a penalty in the min. 80 (shot wide). Red card: Roy Revivo (Israel) 73.
Final (March 26)
Ukraine – Iceland
Play-off C – semi-finals
Georgia – Luxembourg 2-0
He scored: Budu Zivzivadze 40, 64.
Red card: Maxime Chanot (Luxembourg) 58.
Greece – Kazakhstan 5-0
They scored: Anastasios Bakasetas 9 – penalty, Dimitris Pelkas 15, Fotis Ioannidis 37,
Dimitris Kourbelis 40, Erkin Tapalov 87.
Final (March 26)
Georgia – Greece
