Preview : What we can expect at EURO 2016 (Group A-C)
Another major International Tournament is upon us. It’s EURO 2016 time. For the first time, 24 sides will compete for the UEFA European Championship. Teams will be divided into 6 groups where the top 2 from each group and the four best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16. Here is a group-by-group preview of what we can expect at this summer’s Championship.
GROUP A
FRANCE (HOST)
France will start this tournament as favorites. With such huge depth in their squad, France could have put out 3 first teams capable of winning. However, a spate of fresh injuries has taken their toll. Diarra, Varane, Laporte, Mathieu and Tremoulinas being sidelined in recent months. France are so well equipped up front that they could afford to leave out star attackers Benzema, Ben Arfa, Gameiro and Lacazette. You wouldn’t be faulted for thinking they are a little thin with options but you could not be more wrong. This is as strong as France has looked in recent years and the French should expect a deep run in this year’s tournament.
Player to watch : Antoine Griezmann. The Atletico Madrid striker enjoyed a fruitful season scoring 32 goals and providing 14 assists. He has matured into a lethal striker in the past 2 seasons. It is yet to be seen whether Griezmann will be played as a striker or on the wing as Giroud’s scintillating form in recent friendly matches suggest he could be starting up front.
Griezmann and Pogba will be France' main players.
ALBANIA
The Eastern Europeans will be making their first appearance at a major tournament. Albania will set up defensively in France, just like they did during the Qualifiers. Albania’s main style of play consists of sitting back, disrupting opponents’ play and playing on the counter, which has made them difficult to beat. They avoided defeat in away games at Portugal, Serbia, Denmark and Armenia during the Qualifiers. Their chances of qualification will rely on their defensive work. Their joint top scorers during the Qualifiers all finished on one goal each. Nothing will be expected of Albania at this tournament, which could work in their favor. Seeing that 3rd place could be enough to seek qualification, the final group game vs Romania could be crucial.
Player to watch : Taulant Xhaka. The brother of Swiss international and new Arsenal signing Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for Basel in the past couple of seasons helping them to the Swiss League title. He’s been in his brother’s shadow for a while now and could see this as his moment to shine. He will get his chance when Albania go up against Switzerland on the 11th of June.
Xhaka's time to shine?
ROMANIA
Romania and Albania will almost certainly be the teams battling it out for 3rd in Group A. Romania will be another team that will be fairly dependent on their defensive solidity. Romania scored just 11 goals in 10 games during the Qualifiers. However, they qualified for the competition conceding the fewest goals (2) and remained unbeaten throughout. Romania possess a few creative players in the likes of Gabriel Torje and veteran Lucian Sanmartean but may struggle to find goals due to the lack of natural goalscorers. Most of that burden will fall on Florin Andone who plays his trade in the second tier of Spanish football with Cardoba. Romania may not have the quality to challenge the big guns but they certainly have the hunger.
Player to watch : Vlad Chiriches. Although he has yet to make a name for himself at club level, Chiriches has proved to be a vital player for the Romanians at the back. The centre back has forged a formidable partnership with Dragos Grigore. Much of Romania’s progression will depend on whether these two perform as well as they did during the Qualifiers.
Chiriches in action for Romania.
SWITZERLAND
Switzerland have never made it past the group-stages of a European Championship. Nevertheless, the talent in this year’s squad makes it near inconceivable that they don’t end this barren run. They will be without key figure Josip Drmic upfront but rising star Breel Embolo might finally have his time to shine. The youngster has been closely watched by a number of high profile clubs in the last two years. The worry for Switzerland is their defensive vulnerability. Key centre back options missing with injury and other’s just returning to the squad after long spells out. Arsenal’s new signing Granit Xhaka will be key. The box-to-box midfielder will be expecting a free role in the Swiss side providing a threat upfront and also the capability to disrupt the opposition’s play at the back. Switzerland have not been convincing in recent friendly matches but they do have the caliber required to make the latter stages of this competition given their star players rise to the occasion.
Player to watch : Xherdan Shaqiri. The Stoke City winger and former Champions League winner provided Switzerland with the most number of goals and assists during the Qualifiers. Although he has struggled for form and fitness this season, you get the feeling that most of their positive play upfront will go through “the magic dwarf”.
'The Magic Dwarf'
GROUP B
ENGLAND
‘This is definitely England’s year!’ Where have we heard this before? Oh right, before every single major tournament. It’s almost a recycled process. Do well in the Qualifiers, beat a top ranked team in an International friendly and choke on the big stage. With that said, there is cause for optimism this year for England. For the first since 2000, an Englishman finished as the top scorer in the English Premier League (Harry Kane). The runner up tied with Sergio Aguero was Jamie Vardy, another Englishman! In addition to that, bright emergences of young talents have taken the country by shock. More notably, Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur. If Roy Hodgson gets his formula right, England have every chance to compete with the likes of Germany, Spain and France.
Player to watch : Harry Kane. The Golden Boot winner from the English Premier League will be looking to replicate his club form with his country. During the season, Kane and Alli combined for the most goals in Europe’s top 5 leagues. There has been evidence of that in recent friendly wins as well. If these two are on the same page this summer, we can surely expect goals.
Deadly duo. Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy.
RUSSIA
Russia’s form was miserable at the start of the qualifying campaign. That was until Leonid Slutsky took over. The former CSKA Moscow manager restored the feel good factor into the squad and players started responding. The Russians have improved on every level but are still far from being guaranteed a place in the last-16. Key players have succumbed to injury in recent months. Igor Denisov, the experienced Dynamo Moscow midfielder damaged a hamstring in a recent friendly with Serbia. Another significant blow is the injury to Alan Dzagoev. The CSKA playmaker has become a key figure in the Russian side and is possibly the only world-class player this Russian team has to offer. Russia have flattered to deceive in recent years and it would take a valiant effort to see them past this group.
Player to watch : Artem Dzyuba. A lot of focus must go into Russia’s attackers as their defenders are ageing and clearly lack pace. That’s where Dzyuba comes to play. Dzyuba, a classic number 9 with strong attributes has enjoyed a fine season with Zenit. There will be a heavy reliance on him to bang in the goals as he did in the Qualifiers, averaging a goal per appearance.
Dzyuba in a recent friendly match vs France.
SLOVAKIA
Slovakia have always played their best football when they are under the cosh. They just seem to love the big stage. Slovakia, very much a counter-attacking team will rely on their pacey wingers when on the attack. Their style of play impressed in qualifying as they only lost twice in all games, while also beating Spain. The big question mark for the Slovaks will be their ability to bounce back shall they fall behind during the Euro’s. Slovakia will look to repeat their heroics from the 2010 World Cup and try to force their way through to the last-16.
Player to watch : Marek Hamšík. The Napoli midfielder has been criticised in recent years for not performing as well for his country as he does for Napoli. There was no evidence of that in the Qualifiers as he finished as their top scorer. The heartbeat of this team will be deployed as the most attacking midfielder and will be afforded freedom to roam from the manager. Most good things will go through the talented playmaker.
Heartbeat of Slovakia..
WALES
This incredible story of the Wales National Team started in the most tragic way possible. Former manager Gary Speed had passed away and his position as manager was taken over by Chris Coleman. Since then, Coleman has taken Wales to brand new heights. This will be their first appearance at a major tournament in 58 years and they have no plans on making it a short stay. Wales will set up with 3 centre backs and 2 wingbacks to provide the width. Coleman has tinkered with a few formations but this seems to fit his players best. They only conceded 4 goals during the Qualifiers. Their main goal threat will come from Bale and Ramsey. Coleman’s system includes these men as number 10’s in the formation.
Player to watch : Gareth Bale. There is no understating the importance of Bale to this Wales squad. He has the capability to single handedly win games at a flick of a switch. Given that there are no proven goal scorers in the team, most of the burden will fall on the Real Madrid winger. Ever since his record-breaking transfer to Real Madrid, Gareth Bale has thrived as Wales’ main man.
Ever reliable, Gareth Bale.
GROUP C
GERMANY
Germany failed to emulate the form that saw that win the World Cup 2 years ago during the Qualifiers. They endured a patchy campaign but still managed to finish top, 1 point ahead of Poland. They have lost an alarming seven games (including friendlies) since the tournament in Brazil concluded. To be honest, Germany have not been able to reach the heights of 2014. With Phillip Lahm retiring, Germany do look weak in the full back areas. Emre Can, naturally a midfielder or Bendikt Howedes, naturally a centre back will be expected to replace him. On the left, Jonas Hector will be expected to start after a stellar season with FC Köln. Despite frailties at the back, Germany do have an abundance of creative midfielders to choose from. Germany’s success will very much depend on the form of their incredibly strong spine, which includes Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller.
Player to watch : Thomas Müller. It is incredible what he has achieved at just 26 years of age. He is already a World Cup, Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and UEFA Champions League winner. Müller has a knack of showing up on the big occasions. He was also Germany’s top scorer during the last World Cup and the recent Qualifiers.
Özil and Müller.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Northern Ireland are the ultimate underdogs. They have come from absolutely nowhere to take Europe by storm. Not too long ago, Northern Ireland were struggling to register a win in qualifying. Now, they are the first pot-5 team to ever win a qualifying group. Much of the credit must go to Michael O’Neil. He has lead an incredible turnaround to see his team make the European Championships. A well-organized team built around tireless players with an incredible work ethic. They have received a major blow with Christ Brunt being ruled out. The left back’s exclusion could mean that they set up with a back three. Kyle Laffarty who has never quite reached great heights at his club, has been outstanding for his country. He will be the one O’Neil will look to for goals.
Player to watch : Steven Davis. Described by his manager as the most underrated player in the English Premier League. It is hard to disagree with that statement. He finished the season with Southampton in fine form. The Northern Ireland captain has been instrumental for his national team making late runs into the box. He bagged 2 crucial goals vs Greece on the night Northern Ireland secured qualification.
Captain fantastic!
POLAND
Poland were an absolute treat to watch during the Qualifiers. The free scoring team netted an incredible 33 goals in 10 games. 2 of those came in a 2-0 home win vs World Champions, Germany. They will be going to France in confident mood. The Polish people are getting excited at the prospects of their national team achieving their best ever finish at a major Championship. Shouldn’t be a problem setting a new personal record, as they have never made it out of the group stages prior to this. This Poland team is nothing like the one’s in the past. They used to rely on counter attacking play. However, this new set of players no longer adapt that style of play. They now prefer to slowly build their attacks. Grzegorz Krychowiak is the core of this team. He sets the tempo of the attack and makes easy work of breaking up the opponents play.
Player to watch : Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski was often lambasted for not being able to match his world-class tag when wearing the red and white of Poland. That all changed when he was given the captaincy and responsibility of leading this team. Lewandowski finished the qualifying campaign as top scorer on 13 goals. A lot of that is also down to their 4-4-2 formation where Lewandowski is partnered with Arkadiusz Milik, a perfect complement for the Bayern forward.
Lewandowski with his trademark celebration.
UKRAINE
On their day, Ukraine can easily make it tough for better opponents. They will rely heavily on their 2 premier wingers in, Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka. However, this Ukrainian team doesn’t score much and will need to make full use of the few chances they will create. Most of that is down to their defensive approach to games. This approach causes Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka to do most of their work at the wrong end of the pitch – not making full use of their talents. Ukraine possesses a very established and consistent XI. This is where they have the upper hand over their opposition. Most of their players are based in Ukraine and know each other’s game very well.
Player to watch : Yevhen Konoplyanka. Despite a stop-start season with Sevilla, there is no questioning the ability of Konoplyanka. His talent to beat players with his spectacular pace and skill is unparalleled. He will certainly be Ukraine’s chief threat at the Championships.
Yevhen Konoplyanka.
