Will Romania’s “underdog mantra” help put on a show at EHF EURO 2024?

For his club, CSM Constanța, Vasile has been instrumental in the EHF European League Men, as the last season’s Romanian Cup winners have made it to the main round, after some excellent performances in the group matches.

For the national team, Vasile was also there when Romania progressed to EHF EURO 2024, ending any nation's longest gap between participations at a European championship, as Xavi Pascual’s side will make their return after a 28-year absence.

“It is a huge achievement, of course, and we were very happy to progress to the EHF EURO, because it is the best competition to play in with the national team. Of course, this will be the first major international competition for Romania since 2011 and the first EURO since 1996, so it will be very important for us,” says Vasile.

Indeed, Romania went through a barren spell, even with more talented and experienced generations than this one, but they all fell short of returning to the EHF EURO. Even with Pascual at the helm, in his first stint, between 2016 and 2018, Romania did not make the final cut.

But this time, Pascual engineered a successful qualification campaign, with plenty of players who are featuring in the Romanian league – only two of the 21 players called up for the decisive clashes against Austria and Ukraine in the Qualifiers were featuring at foreign clubs – and with plenty of young players in the squad.

Now 26 years old, having spent the last 10 years at Constanța, Vasile has become one of the best goalkeepers in the Romanian league and a crucial cog for Romania, as his excellent performances for his club propelled him into the national team.

“This has been a huge learning curve for me. At times, it was very difficult. But I think now that I am more confident, more experienced and the past years have taught me to believe more in myself. Playing in the EHF European League and playing for Romania were hugely motivating and gave me a huge confidence boost,” adds the goalkeeper.

Romania only sneaked into the EHF EURO final tournament. They clinched just four points in the EHF EURO 2024 qualifiers in a group featuring Austria, the Faroe Islands and Ukraine, winning only two matches on their home court against the latter two sides, but that was enough to finish second on goal difference.

Now, in the SAP Arena in Mannheim, at EHF EURO 2024, Pascual’s side will face even tougher opponents, with two clear favourites for the two main round places in their group – the runners-up from EHF EURO 2022, Spain, and Croatia, a perennial contender in the top European competition.

A clash against Austria - who beat them twice in the qualifiers - will complete Romania’s schedule, as anything from this moment on will be a bonus for Xavi Pascual’s side, both in terms of experience and results.

“Maybe this underdog mantra, this situation we are in suits us. Of course, we are the least experienced team, we cannot compare with teams like Spain or Croatia, for example, just look at their latest performances in this competition, they were in the semi-finals in 2020, for example, four years ago, but maybe we are flying under the radar just enough to spring some surprises here or there,” says Vasile.

Whether that happens or not is still to be seen, but Vasile will certainly not take anything for granted, especially after an excellent season with Constanța in the EHF European League Men. The Romanian club team knocked out last year’s runners-up, Granollers, in the qualification round, before winning their group ahead of Sporting CP, Mol Tatabanya KC and KGHM Chobry Glogow.

Vasile had some stellar displays – a 42 per cent saving efficiency against Tatabanya and a 57 per cent saving efficiency against Glogow – and is slowly becoming one of the most in-form players from the Romania squad.

“Indeed, it was excellent to play in the group matches of the EHF European League. We were in the qualifications before, but we missed out. However, like I have said, this is a huge learning experience and 2023 has been really good for me, personally, in terms of my career,” concludes Vasile.

Photos © CSM Constanta, Federatia Romana de Handball