The Belgians travel to neighbourly France after winning Group B with relative ease and, as they were before the last World Cup in Brazil, are considered one of the possible surprises of the competition, projected to do better than the quarter-finals of 2014. For the first time in a Euro since 2000 (as a host …
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Team Preview — Croatia
Croatia managed to qualify for the Euro, after a second place in Group H, behind only Italy, even with having seen UEFA penalize them with the loss of one point due to racist behaviour in the game against Italy, at Stadion Poljud in Split. Despite being in France, there are many questions hanging around new …
Team Preview — Turkey
Back in the European Championship after failing to qualify for Euro2012, Turkey dreams of repeating the success the 2008 edition where they reached the semi-finals. With a 3rd place in Group A behind the Czech Republic and Iceland, but ahead of the most noticeable absent from this summer, the Netherlands, the Turkish national team ensured …
Team Preview — Czech Republic
The Czechs arrive in France with morale on a high note after winning Group A, ahead of teams like Iceland, Turkey and the Netherlands (which is watching the Euros at home). In a very difficult group, it won’t be so easy to mimic the feats of their countrymen in 2004, when they reached the semi-finals …
Team Preview — Spain
Winner of the last two editions, Spain is perceived again as a clear-cut favourite to take the trophy home, amidst a renovation process, with perennial starters like Xavi and Xabi Alonso retired from international duties. Nonetheless, La Roja dominated its group at will in the qualifying stage with 9 wins out of 10 games, 23 …
Team Preview — Northern Ireland
In their first European Championships ever, and 30 years after the last appearance in a World Cup, Michael O’Neill’s lads come to France as one of the great surprises of the competition after winning Group F, ahead of higher ranked team as Romania, Hungary or Greece (perhaps the biggest disappointment of the qualifying stage, finishing …
Team Preview — Poland
Poland qualified for the Euros for the third time in its history (and third consecutive) after a second place in Group D, just a point off a very strong Germany, now reunited in the competition group stage, having beaten Joachim Löw’s squad at home by 2–0. If they achieve the widely expected 2nd place in …
Team Preview — Ukraine
Ukraine will make only its second UEFA European Championship appearance and after a very difficult qualifying in which they finished 3rd in group C, behind Spain and Slovakia, with Mykhailo Fomenko’s side only booking their tickets to France in a play-off matchup against Slovenia. The focus on a defensive stance was evident during qualifying, with …
Team Preview — Germany
Gary Lineker once said that “football is 11 against 11, and in the end Germany wins” and German history seems to support this idea. The current world champions, were the semi-finals in 13 of the 18 World Cups played, and in 8 out of 11 Euro semi-finals. In fact, the biggest surprise may well be …
Team Preview — Slovakia
The Slovak team is considered the least favorite of the group B to move to the knockout phase, but their performance in World Cup 2014 should not be ignored, even if this group can be considered more difficult than the one they faced in Brazil. In the past two years, the Slovaks only lost two …
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