Ianis Tarba, Darius Falcusan and David Matei of Romania celebrate victory following the UEFA U19 Championship match against Montenegro at Arcul de Triumf Stadium on June 13, 2025 in Bucharest, Romania. (Photo by Harry Murphy – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Andrei-Claudiu Stroe – AIPS Young Reporter – Romania

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BUCHAREST, June 13, 2025 – Romania, hosts of the UEFA U19 Championship, won their first match of the competition in a dramatic fashion, after trailing against a historic Montenegro national team. The final score was 2-1, with Marincău (63’) and Barbu (90+1’) scoring for the hosts, after Vlahovic (13’) broke the deadlock in the first half.

Romania have chances, Montenegro the advantage

The first half was controlled by Romania, but Montenegro proved that sometimes efficiency is more important than any other aspect. The hosts of the tournament had the first chance, but Vermeșan’s shot went wide of the posts. In the 13th minute, Vuk Vlahovic wrote his name in the history books of Montenegrin football by scoring the country’s first-ever goal in a major tournament. The Dinamo Zagreb player took advantage of an error by the two Romanian central defenders and scored from inside the box with the first shot of his team.

The unbeatable Milovic

Ion Marin’s team responded promptly, but Marincău missed the target six minutes after the goal. Milovic, the visitors’ goalkeeper, proved to be the decisive player for the rest of the first half. Târbă, with a shot from outside the box, and Vermeșan, with a header, were both denied by Milovic. The Kom Podgorica keeper continued his top performance with two more extraordinary saves before the break.

The vengeance of Marincău

The second half started just as the first ended: Romania unable to overcome the wall called Milovic. The substitution of Bâsceanu, one of the most important summer transfers in the Romanian league, made an immediate impact. In the 63th minute, Marincău scored with a header from a set-piece cross delivered by Bâsceanu, just two minutes after the last one’s introduction. It was a redemption story for Marincău, the central back, after his earlier mistake that led to Montenegro’s goal.

Everything down to the wire

Filip Perovic came close to scoring a Puskás Award-worthy goal, but his bicycle kick went just wide of the goal. The Romanian players pressed harder towards the end and were eventually rewarded. After a double chance in which Szimionaș hit the post, hopes of a win began to fade among the hosts. That was until the 91st minute when David Barbu found a perfect finish to keep all three points in Bucharest. The post-match celebration—a ‘SIU’ in honor of Barbu’s idol, Cristiano Ronaldo—alongside nearly 3,000 Romanian fans cheering in the stands, perfectly captured the team’s mood ahead of their second game against Spain. With 23 more shots on target, Ion Marin’s players dominated the game, but Montenegro showed they are a dangerous team ahead of their match against Denmark. After this first round, Romania leads the table in Group A, but the fight for semifinals had just started.

Courtesy AIPS MEDIA