MUNICH — Romania players celebrated with their yellow-clad fans after their first European Championship win in 24 years.
At the other end of Munich Arena, Ukraine's players apologized to their supporters after the surprisingly bad 3-0 loss.
Goals from captain Nicolae Stanciu, Răzvan Marin and Denis Drăgus on Monday led Romania to only its second win in Euros history, after a stunning England 3-2 at Euro 2000.
Edward Iordănescu, the first coach to lead Romania at a European Championship since his father Anghel in 2016, hailed his players as a ''generation of soul.''
''A fantastic effort by my team. If you had any doubts, you can believe me now that this is a great team,'' Iordănescu said a day after he turned 46. "We have had golden generations. But this nation does not represent any metal, it is the generation of soul.
''My family have lived these kind of situations for years. But such a big heart, such a soul as this team has, no one has had that. This has to be the generation of soul for Romania. This generation is limitless.''
Stanciu also hit the bar as Romania thoroughly beat up Ukraine, which is at Euro 2024 amid the backdrop of war at home and hoping to give its citizens some joy as they suffer from Russia's invasion.
''Everyone apologized,'' Ukraine coach Serhiy Rebrov said. "The players are feeling that they didn't do enough. Because before the game we told them here we are representing the big, strong country which is fighting more than two years for our freedom.