반격에 나선 독일은 전반 26분 미드필더 숄의 중거리 슛으로 동점을 만드는데 성공했다. 루마니아 오른쪽 코너까지 침투한 오른쪽 윙백 바벨이 수비수 2명을 제치고 패스한 볼이 링크를 거쳐 숄에게 연결되었고, 숄은 절묘한 왼발 아웃프런트 킥으로 루마니아의 골문을 갈라 동점골로 뽑아낸 것. 
 
그러나 독일은 후반들어 체력이 급속히 떨어지며 선수들의 발놀림이 무뎌져 더 이상의 득점에는 실패했다. 비교적 쉬운 상대로 평가됐던 루마니아를 상대로 승점 1밖에 추가하지 못한 독일은 남은 포루투갈과 잉글랜드전에 상당한 부담을 안게됐다. 

반면 FIFA랭킹 11위의 루마니아는 '발칸의 마라도나' 하지의 칼날같은 패스를 바탕으로 여러차례 독일 골문을 위협, 무시못할 전력을 과시했다.  

전후반 슈팅수 12-12에서 보듯 루마니아는 독일에 전혀 밀리지 않는 전력으로 이번대회 다크호스로 급부상했다. 루마니아는 첫골을 뽑아낸 몰도반이 후반26분 골키퍼가 없는 골문을 향해 두번의 슛을 시도하는 절호의 찬스를잡았으나 마테우스의 선방과 어이없는 실축으로 기회를 놓쳐 이길수있는 기회를 날려보냈다. 

비록 강호 독일을 상대로 선전을 하긴 했지만 루마니아는 후반 28분 하지가 부상으로 교체되어 벤치로 나가자 급속히 조직력이 와해되는 문제점을 노출, 이를 해결하는 것이 지상과제로 부상했다. 
 

Romania stunned the Germans in the fifth minute when defender Thomas Linke failed to intercept a deep ball and allowed Adrian Ilie through to pass to the unmarked Viorel Moldovan in the goalmouth. The Romanian forward only had to tap it home. 

After creaking under Romanian pressure for 27 minutes, Germany hit back just as surprisingly when Mehmet Scholl sent a swerving 20-meter drive past the unsighted and flatfooted Bogdan Stelea, burying it in the top left corner. 

"That first goal shocked us," said German captain Oliver Bierhoff. 

In the battle of veterans Gheorghe Hagi and Lothar Matth?s, neither impressed. The 35-year-old Romanian made some dangerous moves early but tired quickly, while Matth?s, 39, mainly created danger for his own defense by playing out of position. 

"We played well and it was a great start to the tournament for us," said Hagi, draped in Matth?s' shirt after the game. 

In the other group A game England played Portugal in Eindhoven, Netherlands. 

"Romania had few chances and they came mostly as a result of our mistakes," said German coach Erich Ribbeck. 

"If you look at the whole game, the one point is justified. We played well in the first half-time and managed to draw level. In the second, some guys ran out of steam," he said. 

"At least in phases we showed that we can play good soccer and create chances," Ribbeck said. 

"It's quite possible that a couple of new players come in on Saturday," when Germany plays England, Ribbeck said. 

After the stunning opener, Romania continued to grip the Germans by the throat. Germany's vaunted organizaion was nowhere in evidence and Matth?s, supposedly the defensive master, was giving his team no leadership and even less direction. 

He wandered over much of the pith but was never in evidence to plug the huge holes that Romanians readily exploited. Up front too, he failed to make a contribution. 

Germany's defense basically came down to Jens Nowotny, who had all hands full correcting his teammates' mistakes. 

In front of a capacity 30,000-crowd at the Sclessin stadium, Germany was in total disarray for a half hour and goalie Oliver Kahn, was forced to make two dangerous forays well of his line to limit the early damage. 

In return, German action was limited to a powerful header from Oliver Bierhoff, which took an excellent reflex save from Stelea to deflect out of danger. 

Stelea was less lucky on Germany's equalizer. Scholl's goal changed the momentum of the game and Germany gradually started seeing more of the ball. 

But pushing forward, only left the German defense stretched to the limit. In the 41st minute, a deep ball from Hagi to Ilie yet again left the Germans exposed and Nowotny appeared to clip Ilie's foot in the penalty area. Hagi and Ilie were given both yellow for protesting Kim Milton Nielsen's controversial decision. 

"I won't comment on it," said Hagi with a wry smile. 

At half-time, Germany was extremely lucky to be still in with a shot at victory. 

And Bierhoff could have made the difference six minutes into the second half with another strong header, Stelea was beaten, but it clipped the outside of the post. 

From then on, the game settled into an untidy rhythm, with the German defense still struggling to get organized. 

"In the second half we started breaking out much better," said Oliver Bierhoff. 

But Romania remained dangerous. 

Moldovan should have gotten a second goal in the 68th minute. Iie had drawn Kahn from his line and when the ball bounced loose, Moldovan first shot weakly at a defender and sent the rebound wide. 

After Hagi was replaced in the 73rd minute, the tired, old master was left biting hs nails in the dugout. 

Matth?s too was substituted before the end. 

Lineups: 

Germany : Oliver Kahn; Markus Babbel, Jens Novotny, Lothar Matth?s, Thomas Linke (46, Marko Rehmer); Jens Jeremies, Christian Ziege, Thomas Haessler (73, Dietmar Hamann), Mehmet Scholl; Oliver Bierhoff, Paolo Rink. 

Romania: Bogdan Stelea; Gheorghe Popescu, Liviu Ciobotariu, Iulian Filipescu; Dan Petrescu (69, Cosmin Contra), Constantin Galca, Dorinel Munteanu, Cristian Chivu, Gheorghe Hagi (73, Adrian Mutu), Viorel Moldovan (85,Ioan Lupescu), Adrian Ilie.