Belgium has sought to project an image of calm after losing its opening game at the European Championship but must be worried about yet another early tournament elimination as it prepares to face Romania in Cologne on Saturday.
A surprise defeat to Slovakia has Belgium on the back foot in Group E and they now face a buoyant Romania, who stunned Ukraine 3-0.
Given the array of quality at its disposal, and after going through the qualifiers unbeaten, Belgium would be expected to advance but top scorer Romelu Lukaku needs to find his range while captain Kevin De Bruyne must increase the tempo in the midfield if it is to dominate Romania.
Victory over Ukraine was only the second time that Romania has won a match at a European Championship and came 24 years after its first — a 3-2 win over England at Euro 2000.
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The last time the two sides met was in an international friendly in 2012 where Romania beat Belgium 2-1.
BELGIUM VS ROMANIA HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played: 12
Belgium: 5
Romania: 5
Draws: 2
BELGIUM VS ROMANIA PREVIOUS FIVE MEETINGS
14 Nov 2012: Romania 2-1 Belgium (International Friendly)
11 Nov 2011: Belgium 2-1 Romania (International Friendly)
28 Apr 1999: Romania 1-0 Belgium (International Friendly)
22 Apr 1998: Belgium 1-1 Romania (International Friendly)
13 Oct 1993: Romania 2-1 Belgium (FIFA World Cup qualifier)
(With inputs from Reuters)
