The best – and worst – of our potential Euro rivals

ROMANIA

THERE should be nothing unfamiliar about the Israelis after Scotland faced them twice in the Nations League.

A shambolic display in Haifa saw us throw away a half-time lead in the first meeting as we lost 2-1, then the 3-2 must-win victory at Hampden was far nervier than it should have been.

Andreas Herzog’s team were well off the pace in their qualifying group with 11 points from 10 games, ahead of only Latvia as Poland and

Austria qualified easily. A 4-2 win over Austria was the stand-out result.

Hibs keeper Ofir Marciano and Celtic midfielder Nir Bitton are well known, as is ex-Celtic man Beram Kayal, who scored their opener in Glasgow last November.

Striker Eran Zahavi hit 11 qualifying goals, the same as Cristiano Ronaldo and two behind Harry Kane. Fellow frontman Moanes Dabour of Sevilla has caused problems for both Scotland and Celtic.

THEY were handed a tough group with Spain, Sweden and Norway but were relatively competitive, finishing fourth on 14 points with the Faroe Islands and Malta making up the numbers.

The Romanians were defeated narrowly by Sweden and Spain either side of a draw with Norway.

But a failure to beat any of those sides left them struggling to keep up.

A final-day hammering by Spain, 5-0 on Monday, was

always likely. Their Nations League results are perhaps a better indicator of where they’re at.

They finished the group unbeaten against Serbia, Lithuania and Montengero.

Attacking midfielder Ianis Hagi has the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of dad Gheorge, Romania’s greatest-ever player.

Brighton bought striker Florin Andone for £6million last season, but have since loaned him to Galatasaray.