Thirty years ago, when they could claim briefly to be among the world’s best teams, Romania captured hearts with their eye for the spectacular. It glinted again to devastating effect in their return to major tournament football and, even if this side cannot compare technically to the class of 1994, a performance of genuine ­quality suggested the modern breed can create their own legends.

Ukraine did not know what had hit them. They ran into a brick wall for nearly half an hour before ­Nicolae Stanciu, with a demonstration of ­stupendous ­technique, transformed the picture. It was a goal Gheorghe Hagi, who had addressed their horde of yellow-clad fans via the giant screen before kick-off, would have gladly called his own.

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One of the joys of tournament football is that it gives us an excuse to spend all day every day talking football. Yes, and one of the punishments of tournament football is that it gives other people an excuse to spend all day every talking football too, but still.

Sometimes, though, we find ourselves in a situation – such as this one – in which talking football feels gauche … yet it is incumbent upon us do so with even greater alacrity than before. Because though Ukraine are defending themselves against Vladimir Putin’s expansionist war, and though their miraculous presence at this competition is part of that story, their team is a football team, their players are football players and their football team will contain football players playing football; as such, we owe it to them to focus on them, not on the other stuff that’s outside of their control.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Edward Iordanescu has helped the team emerge from a dark period with fresh hope

A smile spreads across Anghel Iordanescu’s face as he considers his incorrigible bequest to Romanian football. “I go to Edi’s house for a glass of wine,” he says. “But he just wants to show me some analysis he has done. I tell him: ‘Be careful, you’ll get stuck in front of that computer!’”

The 74-year-old is talking about Edward, his son, who has dragged the national team out of the mire and into Euro 2024. Thirty years ago Anghel took them to the World Cup quarter-finals with an intoxicating attacking style that has remained an impossible benchmark ever since. Hagi, Dumitrescu, Raducioiu, Petrescu, Popescu: the memories are magical and perhaps, at last, a country whose football scene had descended into corruption and hopelessness is ready to forge some more.

They have maximised limited resources and boast a Hagi in their ranks once more, but qualifying counts as success in itself

This article is part of the Guardian’s Euro 2024 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 24 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 14 June.