The Romanian national team has lost a starter before the start of EURO 2024, against Ukraine.
Denis Alibec is not part of coach Edward Iordănescu’s plans for the match against Ukraine, scheduled for June 17.
Alibec is feeling pain and has been training separately in Germany after completing warm-up exercises with his teammates.
The striker is out for the first match but will most likely return for the game against Belgium.
In Alibec's place, Edi Iordănescu has to choose between Denis Drăguș, George Pușcaș, and Daniel Bîrligea.
Romania's squad for EURO 2024:
- GOALKEEPERS: Florin NIȚĂ (Gaziantep | Turkey, 20/0), Horațiu MOLDOVAN (Atletico Madrid | Spain, 10/0), Ștefan TÂRNOVANU (FCSB, 1/0);
- DEFENDERS: Andrei RAȚIU (Rayo Vallecano | Spain, 16/1), Vasile MOGOȘ (CFR Cluj, 5/0), Radu DRĂGUȘIN (Tottenham | England, 15/0), Bogdan RACOVIȚAN (Rakow | Poland, 1/0), Adrian RUS (Pafos | Cyprus, 19/1), Ionuț NEDELCEARU (Palermo | Italy, 26/2), Andrei BURCĂ (Al-Okhdood | Saudi Arabia, 27/1), Nicușor BANCU (Universitatea Craiova, 34/2);
- MIDFIELDERS: Deian SORESCU (Gaziantep | Turkey, 16/0), Marius MARIN (Pisa | Italy, 16/0), Alexandru CICÂLDĂU (Konyaspor | Turkey, 36/4), Răzvan MARIN (Empoli | Italy, 54/3), Nicolae STANCIU (Damac | Saudi Arabia, 68/14), Adrian ȘUT (FCSB, 1/0), Darius OLARU (FCSB, 16/0), Dennis MAN (Parma | Italy, 22/7), Valentin MIHĂILĂ (Parma | Italy, 19/4), Ianis HAGI (Deportivo Alaves | Spain, 33/5), Florinel COMAN (FCSB, 13/1);
- FORWARDS: Denis DRĂGUȘ (Gaziantep | Turkey, 9/2), George PUȘCAȘ (Bari | Italy, 41/11), Denis ALIBEC (Muaither | Qatar, 37/5), Daniel BÎRLIGEA (CFR Cluj, 1/0).
Romania's Schedule in Group E:
- June 17, 4:00 PM: ROMANIA – Ukraine (Allianz Arena, Munich)
- June 22, 10:00 PM: Belgium – ROMANIA (Rhein Energie, Cologne)
- June 26, 7:00 PM: Slovakia – ROMANIA (Waldstadion, Frankfurt)
According to the competition format, the top 2 ranked teams along with the best 4 third-placed teams qualify for the knockout stage.
Romania last participated in the European Championship in 2016 when they were eliminated in the group stage.