A year delayed, Euro 2020 kicks off under Covid cloud
Former champions Italy are the frontrunners. Switzerland, Wales and Turkey make it an interesting group in which the fight for the second spot could go right down to the wire
Somehow it seems appropriate that Italy, the first country in Europe that was overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic, is hosting the opening game of the European Championship. Even if Euro 2020 is kicking off in 2021 with Italy facing Turkey in Rome on Saturday night. After being delayed for a year, Euro 2020 marks the return of top-flight international football as the continent’s top 24 nations battle it out to earn the ultimate glory. This year’s tournament is being played in 11 cities across Europe and will have Covid protocols in place.
WALES. GARETH. GOALS.
The fact that he rated his country Wales ahead of golf and Madrid showed not only on a rather scandalous banner held up by
Gareth Bale in
2019 but also previously on his feet, scoring three times as the continental debutants reached the Euro 2016 semis and were stopped only by eventual champions Portugal.
Just when it seemed that that fairytale run by the Dragons couldn’t be repeated in Euro
2021, thanks to
Bale being benched for most of his loan season back at
Spurs and also manager Ryan
Giggs being dropped after being charged for assault,
Bale found a rich vein of very late form, betting 10 goals from his last 11 Spurs outings.
YOUNG TURKS
With an average age of just below 25, Turkey are heading into the Euros with the youngest squad in the competition. Only three players in the 26-man unit have played more than 40 internationals while there are only two players aged above 27. Captained by veteran forward Burak Yilmaz, who played a starring role in Lille’s Ligue 1-winning campaign, Turkey’s big names include Yilmaz’s Lille mates Zeki Celik and Yusuf Yazici, Leicester’s Caglar Soyuncu and Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu. Coached by Senol Gunes, who took them to third place at the 2002 World Cup, Turkey are a difficult side to beat. In the past year, they have lost twice in 14 games, beaten Netherlands and drawn against Germany and Croatia.
SWISS TIME?
The Vladimir Petkovic-coached side had shown promise at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, holding Brazil to a draw in the group stages before suffering a narrow loss to Sweden in the pre-quarters. Switzerland will head into the tournament quietly confident after winning their last five games. Last year, after the resumption of international football, they had failed to win any of their seven games. But the Swiss managed to draw against heavyweights Germany and Spain in the Nations League in that period. Led by Granit Xhaka, Switzerland have a strong squad that includes the likes of Xherdan
Shaqiri, Breel Embolo, Manuel Akanji, the reliable Yann Sommer in goal, Remo Freuler and Denis Zakaria, among others.