"This is not normal": Lucescu opposes Kazakhstan's participation in Euro 2024 and criticizes UEFA

The former head coach of Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, Mircea Lucescu, was surprised that the Kazakh national team is actually contending for the 2024 European Championship. The Romanian expert called this situation abnormal and criticized the European Football Union (UEFA).

Lucescu said this in an interview with Gazeta Sporturilor. The former Romanian national team coach actually opposed increasing the number of participants in the World Cup and European Championships, as this would allow "very small countries to qualify" for the tournament.

"Look at how many teams have qualified for the finals now. When I was a coach, there were eight teams playing in the Euros, and only seven places were up for grabs in the qualifying tournament. Now there are 24 participants in the European Championship, 32 in the World Cup, and 48 in total. At some point, very small countries will be able to qualify by coincidence. Kazakhstan at the Euros? That would be something completely abnormal. It's really unbelievable that UEFA is suggesting something like that, it's incredible!" said Lucescu.

It should be noted that the Kazakh national team took fourth place in Group H, behind Denmark, Slovenia, and Finland. At the same time, in the final match in Ljubljana, the wards of Russian coach Magomed Adiev could have won a ticket to the championship in case of victory, but lost to the hosts 1-2.

Thanks to its successful performance in the League of Nations, Kazakhstan will play in the knockout rounds. Adiev's team will play Greece in the semifinals of the qualifying playoffs.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the Ukrainian national team learned about the final schedules in the Euro 2024 playoffs after failing to beat Italy in the decisive match of the qualifying group tournament.

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