Romania only conceded 2 goals in their 10 qualifying matches where their defense provided an ample and solid base for them to precede to the tournament in France. Even though they’re not expected to set the tournament on fire with their cautious approach, it is entirely possible that the squad which possesses a mixture of experience and youth might just squeak through to the knockout-stage.

How They Qualified: A 3-0 victory away to the Faroe Islands was only enough to secure 2^nd spot in qualifying group F after finishing the campaign undefeated behind the surprisingly good Northern Ireland.

Tournament History: Quarter Finals 2000.

Nickname: Tricolorii (The Tricolours).

Coach: Anghel Iordanescu.

In his 3^rd spell as coach of the national team. As a player the former striker was on the winning side of a European Cup final against Barcelona in 1986 in a famous Steaua Bucharest team. As a coach he is nicknamed ‘The General’ and led the side to the World Cup in 1994. The 94 side is largely considered the team’s most successful period with a team which enjoyed Gheorghe Hagi pulling the strings. Iordanescu came out of retirement in 2014 after standing for and winning a place in Romaina’s senate.

Key Man: Razvan Rat.

The full-back possesses a wealth of experience from a distinguished career where he admirably graced the group stages of the Champions League with Shakhtar Donetsk for a decade. Now in the twilight of his career with Rayo Vallecano. The 34-year-old Romania captain is set to add at least three games to an international career that has amassed 108 caps. Euro 2016 will only be his 2^nd major international tournament.

One To Watch: Claudiu Bumba.

The product of Romania’s ailing youth system has spent a much of his short career in the Israeli league. He does however have a season under his belt on-loan at Roma where he could only manage a handful of appearances for the Italian club’s development side. Experts suggest that he could be on his way to one of the big European leagues this summer.

Fixtures:

June 10, 3 p.m. vs. France

June 15, 12 p.m. vs. Switzerland

June 19, 3 p.m. vs. Albania

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Ciprian Tatarusanu (Fiorentina), Costel Pantilimon (Watford), Silviu Lung (Astra Giurgiu).

Defenders: Alexandru Matel (Dinamo Zagreb), Cristian Sapunaru (Pandurii Targu Jiu), Vlad Chiriches (Napoli), Dragos Grigore (Al Sailiya), Valerica Gaman (Astra Giurgiu), Cosmin Moti (Ludogorets Razgrad), Razvan Rat (Rayo Vallecano), Steliano Filip (Dinamo Bucharest).

Midfielders: Mihai Pintilii (Steaua Bucharest), Ovidiu Hoban (Hapoel Be’er Sheva), Andrei Prepelita (Ludogorets Razgrad), Lucian Sanmartean (Al Ittihad), Adrian Popa (Steaua Bucharest), Gabriel Torje (Osmanlispor), Nicolae Stanciu (Steaua Bucharest), Alexandru Chipciu (Steaua Bucharest).

Forwards: Claudiu Keseru (Ludogorets Razgrad), Bogdan Stancu (Genclerbirligi), Florin Andone (Cordoba), Denis Alibec (Astra Giurgiu).