The Romanians feel they've landed in League C by chance and are eager to return to competing against more formidable opponents. For now, they'll need to overcome the challenge posed by Cyprus.
Bookmakers rate Cyprus's chances of winning lower than Romania's. Their victory over Lithuania (1:0) is already an achievement. Cyprus's last win in an official match was back in 2022, when they unexpectedly defeated their Greek neighbours (1:0) in the previous Nations League. Nevertheless, that victory didn't help them climb above last place. It's fortunate they weren't relegated. They defeated Lithuania but conceded four goals against a not overly strong Kosovo side. What can they expect against a Euro 2024 playoff contender?
Likely, nothing less than a defeat. Romania have dropped points, but the last official game in which their opponents walked away with anything (excluding Euro 2024) was against Belarus (0:0), exactly a year ago. Now under the experienced Mircea Lucescu, who took charge in August, the team comfortably scored three each against Kosovo and Lithuania, with a total xG of 4.84. Cyprus's xG over two matches stands at a mere 0.91.
Almost 13 years ago, Cyprus played a friendly against Romania that ended 1:1, but this is not a friendly—it's the Nations League. Romania might not thrash the hosts, but they will certainly secure the win.
|
Sofronis Avgousti
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
Neofytos Michail
|
gk. | 15 | -27 |
Joel Mall
|
gk. | 13 | -35 |
Dimitris Dimitriou
|
gk. | 9 | -18 |
Konstantinos Laifis
|
df. | 60 | 3 |
Nicholas Ioannou
|
df. | 48 | 2 |
Ioannis Kousoulos
|
df. | 41 | 4 |
Andreas Karo
|
df. | 25 | 1 |
Stelios Andreou
|
df. | 21 | 0 |
Minas Antoniou
|
df. | 20 | 0 |
|
Nikolas Panagiotou
|
df. | 13 | 0 |
|
Kostas Pileas
|
df. | 8 | 1 |
Marios Stilyanu
|
df. | 6 | 0 |
|
Charalampos Charalampous
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
Costakis Artimatas
|
mf. | 71 | 1 |
Grigoris Kastanos
|
mf. | 64 | 6 |
Ioannis Pittas
|
mf. | 43 | 7 |
Alex Gogic
|
mf. | 33 | 0 |
Marinos Tzionis
|
mf. | 27 | 2 |
|
Andreas Chrysostomou
|
mf. | 4 | 0 |
Rafail Mamas
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
Pieris Sotiriou
|
fw. | 60 | 12 |
|
Loizos Loizou
|
fw. | 32 | 1 |
|
Andreas Makris
|
fw. | 24 | 0 |
|
Marios Ilia
|
fw. | 14 | 1 |
|
Mircea Lucescu
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
Nita Florin Constantin
|
gk. | 26 | -26 |
Horatiu Moldovan
|
gk. | 11 | -9 |
Stefan Tarnovanu
|
gk. | 2 | -1 |
Nicusor Bancu
|
df. | 41 | 2 |
Andrei Burca
|
df. | 33 | 1 |
Cristian Manea
|
df. | 25 | 2 |
Andrei Raţiu
|
df. | 23 | 1 |
Radu Matei Drăgușin
|
df. | 23 | 0 |
Virgil Ghita
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
|
Alex Pașcanu
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Nicolae Stanciu
|
mf. | 76 | 15 |
Răzvan Marin
|
mf. | 61 | 7 |
Alexandru Chipciu
|
mf. | 47 | 6 |
Ianis Hagi
|
mf. | 41 | 5 |
Marius Marin
|
mf. | 24 | 0 |
|
Darius Olaru
|
mf. | 22 | 0 |
|
Alexandru Mitriță
|
mf. | 20 | 4 |
Deian Sorescu
|
mf. | 19 | 0 |
Victor Dican
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
George Puscas
|
fw. | 45 | 11 |
|
Denis Alibec
|
fw. | 40 | 5 |
Dennis Man
|
fw. | 30 | 8 |
|
Valentin Mihaila
|
fw. | 26 | 5 |
Florinel Coman
|
fw. | 18 | 1 |
Denis Drăguș
|
fw. | 17 | 4 |
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