Florin Raducioiu : It is painful that Romania has missed EURO 2020

Retired Romanian international football player Florin Raduidioiu said on Thursday that it is painful that Romania's national football team does not participate in the EURO 2020 football championships, given that Bucharest is a host city, adding that any change in the national team should to start with the coach Mirel Radoi. "I don't want to comment on the national team as long as it achieves these counter-performances; I prefer to talk about the national team when it returns to the performances it had a few years ago. It's painful, because I had myself the honour to play in a EURO tournament, even if that European Championship was a very bad one in terms of results, but we were present. That qualification back in 2016 is too little. It seems that we will not be present at the 2022 World Cup as well, and obviously I am very disappointed. I think the answers should be given by those who lead the Romanian football," said the retired national team forward player. Asked what should be changed for the national team in order to return to its good shape it used to be known for in the past, Raducioiu said: "I think it should start with the coach. Unfortunately, the coach has a totally wrong vision of current football. I have nothing personal with Mirel Radoi; on the contrary. But he has to be very realistic and try to find a way for the team to win the matches. That's the reality; I don't want to get into controversy. If a coach isn't capable of making the players express themselves at the highest level, there is no use having players like Marin, Coman, Mihaila, who I really like, or players like Hagi and Coman. It would be a pretty interesting generation, but it seems that something is not OK at coaching level." Raducioiu will be rooting for Belgium, and is expecting Italy to spring a surprise at EURO 2020. Retired footballers Ilie Dumitrescu, Bogdan Stelea, Florin Raducioiu, Daniel Pancu, Gheorghe Craioveanu, fencer Ana-Maria Popescu (Cheese), wrestler Catalin Morosanu, retired basketball player Virgil Stanescu and retired boxer Mihai Leu participated on Thursday evening in the release of the Super EURO magazine that will cover EURO 2020 and the opening of the Superbet Premium Store, a VIP sports betting agency. Romania has been approved to host four EURO 2020 final matches at the National Arena in Bucharest. The city will host three Group C matches and one in the. Scheduled for the National Arena are Austria versus North Macedonia (June 13, 19:00hrs); Ukraine versus North Macedonia (June 17, 06:00hrs); Ukraine versus Austria (June 21, 19:00), all in Group C, as well as the round of 16 match that will oppose the winner of Group F and the team ranked third in groups A, B or C (June 28, 22:00hrs). Initially scheduled for 2020, the competition has been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The EURO 2020, anniversary edition, which celebrates 60 years since the first European Championship, will take place June 11-July 11, 2021. The 11 host cities are: Bucharest (Romania), Baku (Azerbaijan), Copenhagen (Denmark), London (UK), Munich (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), Rome (Italy), Amsterdam (Netherlands), St. Petersburg (Russia), Glasgow (Scotland), and Seville (Spain). AGERPRES (RO - author: Adrian Tone, editor: Mihai Tenea; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)

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