Romania achieved a significant victory in a major international tournament after 24 years on Monday, defeating Ukraine 3-0 at Euro 2024, capitalizing on two mistakes by goalkeeper Andriy Lunin. Captain Nicolae Stanciu's superb long-range shot provided Romania, supported by the majority of the Munich crowd, with a first-half advantage in their Group E opener. Razvan Marin's long-range effort then evaded Lunin, leading to two additional goals for Romania before the 60th minute, with Denis Dragus adding the third. This was a challenging start for Ukraine, who must swiftly recover with upcoming matches against Slovakia and Belgium. Ukraine's players entered the field draped in their national flags, marking their first major tournament appearance since the Russian invasion in February 2022. Despite not qualifying for the World Cup two years ago, Ukraine made their fourth consecutive Euros appearance amidst the largest European conflict since WWII. Ukraine reached the quarterfinals three years ago under Andriy Shevchenko, but much has changed due to the war, with Serhiy Rebrov now leading the team. Rebrov emphasized the importance of participating in Germany, a refuge for over a million Ukrainians, and shared receiving numerous messages from home, including from those on the front lines, urging his team to demonstrate Ukraine's spirit in these difficult times. Romania, unbeaten in qualifying, had not won in four games this year before returning to the big stage after missing Euro 2020. Their last tournament win was at Euro 2000 when they reached the quarterfinals. Ukraine's early probing at the Allianz Arena on a warm afternoon proved fruitless and led to Lunin's misdirected clearance, which was intercepted by Dennis Man and led to Stanciu's spectacular 20-yard strike. Lunin was briefly comforted by Oleksandr Zinchenko but faced further threats from Stanciu, including a dangerous corner. Following a Romanian counter-attack, Marin's low strike from 25 yards deceived Lunin, and Dragus sealed the win with a tap-in after a well-executed short corner. Romania's goalkeeper Florin Nita made a late save from Georgiy Sudakov, and Roman Yaremchuk's lob narrowly missed, summing up a forgettable day for Ukraine.