Romania Under-19s and Slovakia Under-19s will square off at the European Championship on Friday with nothing but pride on the line.
Both nations will exit the tournament at the group stages after losing fixtures to France and Italy, and host nation Slovakia will require a win to avoid finishing bottom of Group A.
Match preview
Having only earned a place in this tournament as the host nation, Slovakia were always going to be up against it when being paired with arguably the two strongest nations in the competition.
Albert Rusnak would have hoped that his players would have been competitive with France, the added factor of it being the opening game of the tournament giving reason to think that the fixture could be competitive.
However, Slovakia were blown away by a 5-0 scoreline, each of the strikes being scored in a 46-minute period between the 16th and 62nd minutes.
Slovakia improved significantly in their following game against Italy, only succumbing 1-0, but the defeat has ultimately left them out of the tournament with one game still remaining.
While the same can be said for Romania, they have at least tested the superior sides in the group in their first two fixtures.
At one stage, Romania were level with Italy, finding an equaliser through Luca Andronache, but the Azzurri were still able to run out 2-1 winners.
France recorded a victory by the same scoreline three days later, Romania spending the majority of the contest 2-0 down before scoring a late consolation.
Nevertheless, in what is only their second appearance in this tournament, Daniel Oprescu will take the positives from the campaign if they can end their schedule with a convincing success.
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Team News
Aurelian Ciuciulete is in line to come into the Romania midfield with Dan Sirbu needing to be withdrawn after just 25 minutes versus France.
Eduard Radaslavescu and Andreas Chiritoiu are also pushing to feature in the final third as Romania look to end the tournament on a high.
Despite a spirited effort against Italy, Rusnak may give opportunities to some of the players who did not get on the pitch in that game.
Adam Gazi and Viktor Sliacky will hope for chances on the flanks, while Adam Griger could start down the centre of the attack.
Gabriel Halabrin is an alternative to Dominik Holly in central midfield.
Romania Under-19s possible starting lineup:
Popa; Coubis, Gergely, Danuleasa, Pantea; Pandele, Ciuciulete; Andrei, Ilie, Popescu; Andronache
Slovakia Under-19s possible starting lineup:
Balaz; Micuda, Ujlaky, Luka, Sikula; Halabrin, Oravec; Gazi, Szolgai, Sliacky; Griger
We say: Romania Under-19s 2-1 Slovakia Under-19s
Although both teams head into this fixture with zero points on the board, one side has been significantly more competitive than the other. With that in mind, we are backing Romania to edge this contest, potentially by a narrow margin with Slovakia having improved in their second outing.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
