First Dutch goal crushed Romania's spirit

MUNICH, Germany - Romania came out flying against the Netherlands on Tuesday to the delight of their passionate fans, but Cody Gakpo's 20th minute goal broke their rhythm and from then on it was backs to the wall and an eventual 3-0 defeat.

"The truth is that after 20 minutes with an individual action they managed to unbalance us and to score and then things did not work as good as we thought," said disappointed coach Edward Iordanescu. "I regret that we did not manage to elevate ourselves to their level."

Romania go home proud, however, of their achievements after topping both their pre-tournament qualifiers and then their group at the finals.

"Today we ended a great story ... Of course there is some sadness. We gave our all like every day. Thank you to my boys, thank you to the supporters, thank you to the people back home, to Romanians around the world," Iordanescu added.

"We have to take inspiration from this ... The new generations, the children, have to take inspiration from these boys ... This unity that we have, this cohesion between the Romanians and the national team, this could be a new beginning."

The 46-year-old coach said he was exhausted after only sleeping three or four hours a night in Germany and would talk soon with the Romanian football association about his future.

"I believe that in this moment my family needs me more than the national team," said Iordanescu, whose father Anghel had three spells in charge of Romania and took them to the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals.

"I am sure that whatever happens with me and with my situation, this team has the power, the strength, to have a good future and we want to reach the (2026) World Cup ... It is very important that we have two qualifications in a row."

Romania's players were equally disappointed at running out of steam after an encouraging start against the Dutch in the last-16 match at the Munich Football Arena.

"I think we started well, we played well the first 15-20 minutes, then their first goal came and it destabilised us to some extent," said defender Andrei Burca.

"We are disappointed, we wanted a lot from this match. This championship must be a starting point, so that we don't participate in final championships only every eight years. It is a sad evening for us. We want to thank our fans first of all, they were incredible." REUTERS