Turkey may shock Italy as Euro rolls
CARRYOVER BOOST FOR SOCCER ANY 15
The world of football is ready for an excess of exciting action over the next 30 days as the delayed European Championship takes centre stage.
Euro 2020 matches will form the foundation of many TAB soccer pools for the next few weeks and are included in tomorrow’s carryover Soccer Any15 pool. The tournament kicks off tonight in Rome, where Italy host an enigmatic Turkish side who could keep up a long tradition of upsets in the opening matches of major tournaments.
After that will follow a steady stream of intriguing games with tomorrow set to provide a clear indication of the potential of top-ranked Belgium, who are away against Russia in St Petersburg without key players, but could still prove too strong given their depth of talent.
Belgium have topped the FIFA rankings for almost three years, but never won a major trophy.
Denmark and Switzerland have the ability to be disruptive at the tournament, although winning the trophy is likely beyond their ability. Their respective games tomorrow will give a window into their credentials.
England start against Croatia on Sunday in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semi-final where Croatia triumphed. England have beaten them since and are probably even stronger now, but a draw is also a feasible outcome.
For the Netherlands, Sunday’s home game against Ukraine in Amsterdam is a return to a major tournament for the first time since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where they finished third.
Following that they had a lean spell and were embarrassed by missing out on the 2016 European Championship in France and then the World Cup finals in Russia.
The Dutch now look to make up for lost time with a young squad, certainly nowhere as talented as the 2014 edition but with some similarities.
On Monday, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Spanish side will become clearer as they take on Sweden.
But the big game of the first round is on Tuesday, when France and Germany meet in Munich. World champions France are favourites to win the tournament and Germany have had their problems recently.