As sporting tournaments go, there are few bigger than the European Championships where Europe’s best international teams compete against one another for the European Championship trophy. It is like the World Cup but features only European teams.
The big question is who will win. The smart money is arguably on current World Cup holders, France, but teams like England that have gone through a rebirth may well be in with a good chance as well. If you are up for a flutter, you may want to check out the odds on Draftkings or similar site.
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With this in mind, let’s review some of the favorites to win the Euro 2020.
England
Gareth Southgate has brought through England’s young talent who reached the semi-final stages of the World Cup two years ago. Although expectations are higher, Southgate is very good at managing them and seems to be able to get the best out of his young players.
It is not all good news for England, as though they have an exceptional forward line that scores goals, they leak goals at the other end with better teams exposing weaknesses in the midfield and defence.
As England will play their group games in London and if they reach the final it will be held in London to, England might just be in with a shot at winning the tournament.
France
The deserved winners of 2018’s World Cup Finals, this classy French side may see only one change from one that won sport’s biggest trophy. Antoine Griezmann who showed his true potential two years ago will no doubt be a player to watch in this year’s tournament.
Unlike many teams in Euro 2020, they don’t have an obvious weakness and have flair which they can turn on to get the goals when needed. If France plays like it did in the World Cup, it is hard to see a side beating them.
Belgium
On paper, Belgium should have at least one trophy to their name in recent years. Hazard, De Bruyne, and Lukaku are three of the best players in the world and form part of the so-called ‘Golden Generation’.
In other tournaments, the team has failed to perform, but their flawless qualifying hints that the Golden Generation know this is their last shot at glory and they are going to take it with both hands. Time will tell if they pull it off.
Netherlands
After years being in the wilderness, the Netherlands are making a genuine resurgence on the world stage. They have strong young talent that has a taste for winning. Some of the squad have won the Champions League with Liverpool.
Arguably, there are weaknesses in the team. They concede goals too easily. That said, coming back from two goals behind against archrivals Germany to win 4-2 shows the team is determined to win. Many Dutch fans will be relieved that the egalitarian egos some Dutch players have shown in the past has been subdued to allow the Netherlands to play as a team.
Germany
After Germany crashed out in the group stages of the 2018 World Cup, the fallout was inevitable. Of that squad, only two have survived in the form of Toni Kroos and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Although older heads now form the team, most of it is comprised of young talent which many would argue was overdue.
Despite their poor performance in the World Cup, the Germans are a team you can never rule out and seem to come good when it matters.
Spain
Spain’s steady demise from being the best team in the world to mediocre feels like a giant slowly falling asleep. Under new management in the form of Luis Enrique and under incredibly difficult circumstances (his nine-year-old daughter passed away), Spain has qualified. It has a team capable of beating anyone.
Enrique’s challenge is incredibly difficult. Unless Spain wins the tournament which defies all expectations he will be seen as a failure even though the players that brought glory to the country for so long have retired.
Italy
Italy is a team on the way up. They have gone through a decade or so where the teams simply didn’t perform very well. They failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and when that happened, it was a sad day for soccer.
Now, under Roberto Mancini at the helm and with new attacking technical football spearheaded by Italy’s youth, the team has started to score and win. In fact, in qualifying, it averaged 3.7 goals a game.
Although Mancini’s teams haven’t been tested against quality opposition, the future is promising for the Italians.
Euro 2020 promises to be a fantastic tournament with great games on the horizon. Make sure you’re watching the tournament even if you live a bit too far away to travel to the games live.
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