De Bruyne crowns Belgium’s 2-0 win over Romania to get Euro 2024 campaign on track

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — In entrance of Belgium’s royal household, King Kev sealed the win.

Belgium shook off the shock of shedding to Slovakia in its opening sport of the European Championship by beating Romania 2-0 on Saturday.

Kevin De Bruyne’s second-half aim accomplished the win after Youri Tielemans scored within the second minute at Cologne Stadium.

Watching on have been Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.

“We knew what we would have liked to do. We wanted to win in any other case we have been going residence,” De Bruyne mentioned. “I’ll do the whole lot I can to maintain the lads on observe.”

This was simply what Belgium wanted after the Slovakia stunner, which raised the prospect of one other early exit from a significant event after being eradicated on the group stage of the 2022 World Cup.

Tielemans gave the No. 3-ranked group on the earth a flying begin with a aim from the sting of the world. De Bruyne transformed direct from Belgium goalkeeper Koen Casteels’ lengthy kick within the eightieth.

The end result means all 4 groups in Group E have three factors and there’s all to play for within the remaining spherical of video games on Wednesday, when Belgium performs Ukraine and Romania takes on Slovakia.

“I’m very relieved we gained the sport. It was essential to get the three factors,” Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco mentioned.

Whereas Belgium gained, there was extra frustration for Romelu Lukaku, who had a 3rd aim dominated out by VAR at these Euros.

Nonetheless, he was on the middle of his group’s nice begin when laying the ball off for Tielemans to drive in low from the sting of the field.

Belgium has been criticized for failing to dwell as much as expectations up to now, and its opening defeat wouldn’t have helped the boldness among the many squad going into Saturday’s sport.

Tielemans’ aim appeared to raise the stress, and Belgium dominated the remainder of the half with 67% of possession.

Lukaku thought he scored after the break, however VAR mentioned he strayed offside earlier than firing previous Romania keeper Florin Nita.

The longer the sport went on with out Belgium scoring a second, the extra the stress rose.

Dennis Man may have evened the rating when operating by means of on aim, however was denied by Casteels.

The keeper then turned supplier with an extended punt upfield, which De Bruyne raced on to and fired residence.

Tedesco thought his group took too lengthy to seal the win.

“Scoring 4 or 5 targets tonight was attainable,” he mentioned. “It is very important create possibilities, however it’s a must to kill the sport earlier for positive.”

Beneath former Belgium coach Roberto Martinez, Portugal superior to the knockout section after a 3-0 win in opposition to Turkey in Group F. Georgia picked up its first ever level at a significant event after a drawing the Czech Republic 1-1 and nonetheless has hopes of advancing.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024