Taken and weighed down by the gravity of the moment, considering the match's significance for a war-torn people?
Or is Ukraine not better?
Romania did as they pleased in Munich and won 3–0.
It's a shame that we're losing. It's painful to see our fans who are here and supporting us, says Ukraine's defender Oleksandr Zintjenko to SVT.
The pre-match talk before the opening match in Group E naturally focused a lot on war, politics, and the pride the Ukrainians took into the European Championship with.
Just hours before the match, the federation's president, Andrij Sjevtjenko, unveiled an installation consisting of parts of a bombed-out stand section from the 2012 European Championship arena in Kharkiv, at a central square in Munich.
We're playing today for the country and for the people who are defending our lives and our land, said Sjevtjenko.
Dream goal by Stanciu
But Ukraine didn't get going, with very little working in a team that had qualified for the championship as recently as March after a playoff win against Iceland. It was Romania who didn't hesitate to take advantage.
Nicolae Stanciu's dream goal in the 29th minute may well stand as one of the most beautiful when the European Championship is summed up.
The precursor to the veteran's 15th national team goal – in his 71st national team match – was sloppy defensive play by Ukraine.
Andrij Lunin, the Real Madrid goalkeeper, suddenly had to parry a sharply hit backpass. It didn't get any better than the panicked clearance going straight to Dennis Man, who served Stanciu a shooting opportunity.
The ball curved in a wide arc high to the right of a helpless Lunin.
Romania had bids on more goals before halftime, but above all, their compact, focused defensive play impressed.
Ukraine's attacking star Artem Dovbyk – 24 goals in Girona in the Spanish league this season – got nowhere. Nor did Mychajlo Mudryk, who plays for Chelsea, in his breakthrough attempts.
Lunin's blunder
One mishap rarely comes alone, as they say. Lunin could sign off on that.
A terrible blunder by the goalkeeper immediately sank Ukraine after halftime. Razvan Marin's long-range shot had considerable pace, but Lunin reacted late and let the ball in under his arms as he dived.
There are moments when we lose focus and concentration. I don't think Romania was much better than us. We had the ball a lot, but it's not ball possession that decides, but the one who makes the fewest mistakes, says Zintjenko.
Shortly after, the next blow came, when Denis Dragus put his foot to Dennis Man's pass. 3–0 after 57 minutes. A blow Ukraine didn't recover from. Only at the end of the match were some opportunities produced that could have led to a consolation goal that never came.
