BEIJING, June 23 - After Belgium's 2-0 victory over Romania in the second round of the UEFA Europa League group stage, Romanian defender Dragusin accepted a media interview in which he candidly analyzed his team's performance and looked ahead to the next match.
Dragussin was the first to admit that the match against Belgium would be a test for them. "It was really a tough game for us tonight," he said, "We faced top teams and top players. We did have our chances, especially in the second half, and we improved, but I don't know exactly what we were missing. Belgium showed more concentration when the chances came."
He mentioned that conceding a goal at the beginning of the match put the Romanian team in a passive position. "Starting the game with a conceded goal was a big challenge for us," recalled Dragusin, "We were in a similar predicament in our previous qualifier against Israel, but we managed to adjust and turn things around then. However, today in some ways our strategy didn't work."
Despite the setback, Dragussin remains optimistic about his team's future. "I think our defense needs to be firmer," he said, "and in the game against Slovakia we will have the opportunity to prove that we qualify from the group stage. I strongly believe that we still have a chance and we will focus on our goals because we believe that we can still achieve what we set out to do."
Dragusin's interview shows the resilience and fighting spirit of the Romanian players, and despite the fact that they were unable to win against their strong rivals Belgium, the team did not give up, but rather set their sights on the upcoming matches, preparing aggressively and looking forward to breaking out of the group stage.
