It's here in just a matter of weeks guys, we don't have to endure a summer without football this year, thank god, anyway, here's a little read on this summer's tournament and some knowledge on each and every country participating, with a chance to earn a little money or just make it a bit more exciting.
So, I'm sure 95% of you know how it works, for those of you who don't, here's a little insight to the tournament which will see a slight change this year, with 24 teams participating for the first time ever. It will be held in France from the 10th of June to the 10th of July 2016 (sorry women). In the new format, the top 2 teams from the 6 groups will qualify for the next round, with the 4 best placed 3rd ranked sides also qualifying into the round of 16 knockout stage, then Quarters, Semis and Final, you get the drift. So let's start with the hosts :
GROUP A-
FRANCE : With them being on home turf you'd think they stand a great chance of winning this Tournament, endless talent in the squad and a very young, energetic batch of players. But will the pressure of being on home turf get to this young squad ? Well, it didn't 18 years ago but that was a whole different class of a french side which you can't compare with.
Although they are close to having that perfect squad again, they even have a Premier League Winner from Leicester in there, Ngolo Kante, along with so much more talent in Payet, Matuidi, Martial, Griezmann, Coman. Also some experienced defenders in Evra, Sagna and Koscielny !!!
Prediction : Winners/Finalists.
Player to watch : Pogba. (Juventus)
ROMANIA: Perhaps the most exciting part you'll see of Romania is their bright Yellow kit this summer, although they did hold Spain to a 0-0 draw recently and do have an outside chance of getting out of the group with France most likely being clear winners but the other 2 countries not being of the greatest level. 6 ft 8 inch Costel Pantilimon won't be easy to score past !!
Prediction : 3rd in Group.
Player to Watch : Ciprian Marica. (Schalke)
SWITZERLAND : A few good players in here who play for top European teams in the big leagues, the likes of Xhaka, Lichtsteiner, Dzemaili, Rodriguez and BIG Philippe Senderos !! Good chance of getting through this group.
Wait for it Stoke fans....
Prediction : 2nd Round.
Player to watch : Xherdan Shaqiri. (Stoke)
ALBANIA : The Albanians must be over the moon to have qualified for France, anything else will be a consolation for them, although they'll be tough to beat giving 100% in their games. This is their 1st ever participation in a major men's tournament so they'll go in with no pressure. They've beaten Portugal and France in the last year.
Prediction : 3rd or 4th in Group.
Player to watch : Elseid Hysaj. (Napoli)
GROUP B-
ENGLAND : There's not much I can say about England that you all don't already know really, amazing in friendlies leading up to the tournament, amazing in qualifying, get to the tournament and then some how forget how to play and leave everyone saying "same old, same old". The question is will the manager go with 2 up top or just the one ? If so who will it be ? Kane or Vardy or even Rooney ?. Will Rooney be effective in the midfield role if he gets played there ? We will have to wait and see.
That being said, with a very young squad, providing Hodgson has faith in them, they will be progressing quite far in this Tournament and do really have a good chance this time around.
Prediction : Semi-final.
Player to watch : Harry Kane. (Tottenham)
RUSSIA : Russia came 2nd in qualification to an up and coming Austria side, this is the 4th European Championship in a row that they've qualified for so have a lot of experience when it comes to the big stage. This being England's 1st opponents and it won't be straight forward, with Russia's experienced and disciplined defence and some young attacking talent, I expect Russia to get out of this group and it will be between them and Wales for 2nd spot most likely.
Prediction : 2nd/3rd in Group, 2nd round.
Player to watch : Artyom Dzyuba. (Zenit St Petersburg)
WALES : This is only the 2nd major tournament Wales have ever qualified for and you can see there being a few thousand drunk Welsh this summer. They will fancy themselves to get out of this group but with not much experience at this level, who knows how they'll cope ? They'll need a Gareth Bale on red hot form along with Aaron Ramsey and captain Ashley Williams. One thing for sure is that the England v Wales game is going to be a cracker.
Prediction : 2nd Round.
Player to watch : Gareth Bale. (Real Madrid)
SLOVAKIA : Perhaps the outsiders in this group to most, but they're not as bad as you think, beating reigning European Champions Spain in qualification and eventually finishing 2nd in the group to them earning automatic qualification. They do also have some decent players as well such as Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel, Miroslav Stoch and Juraj Kucka of AC Milan. I don't expect them to get out of this group with the 3 other teams being of a very good standard, but don't expect them to be push overs either.
Prediction : 4th in Group.
Player to watch : Marek Hamsik. (Napoli)
GROUP C-
GERMANY : Current World Champions and everyone will fancy Germany this summer (as always) but they haven't been convincing of late, this tends to happen after winning a major tournament though as a new breed of players will come through. They haven't won this tournament since 1996 though and will want to change that, the group looks to be straight forward but this might not help them when it comes to the latter stages. They'll certainly have a younger defence with Lahm retiring and Boateng not yet back to full fitness, Emre Can could be stepping in at right back and along with a few others who could have a chance. They do however have buckets of talent in midfield with Kroos, Ozil, Schurrle, Draxler and Muller. Recently losing a friendly 3-1 against the Slovakians albeit in really bad playing conditions, they'll be ready when it comes to the big tournament no doubt.
Prediction : Semi-Final.
Player to watch : Thomas Muller. (Bayern Munich)
UKRAINE : The Ukrainians just about scraped through to qualify for this tournament via the dreaded 2 legged playoff. But they're here again and have qualified for the last few major tournaments.
They will fancy themselves in this group as well with Poland and Northern Ireland being the other 2 teams, who are of about the same level. They have 37 year old veteran and ex Bayern Munich player Anatoliy Tymoshchuk in the centre of the park with 142 international caps to his name, who will lead them out this summer and young starlet Andriy Yarmolenko, who will no doubt be making a move to one of the big european leagues this summer.
Prediction : 3rd/4th in group.
Player to watch : Yevhen Konoplyanka. (Sevilla)
POLAND : The co-hosts of the last edition of this tournament 4 years ago, but they'll be hoping to do much better this time around that's for sure, scoring only 2 goals and a poor 2 points, they exited early.
This time around they have more of an experienced squad and players who have been through it all before, they also beat Germany in qualifying, only finishing 1 point behind them.
They have 2 goalkeepers playing in the Premier League, Boruc and Fabianski, also ex Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny, it's a shame they can't play all 3 hey ??
I expect Poland to get out of this group.
Prediction : 2nd in group.
Player to watch : Robert Lewandowski. (Bayern Munich)
NORTHERN IRELAND : You have to give it to Northern Ireland, qualifying for their first ever Euro's and convincingly finishing top of their group. Remember years ago where they would constantly disappoint in qualifying, finishing 4th or 5th, they've now created a fortress at Windsor Park and they'll be hoping to take that passion with them to France. With a mix of Premier League players and mostly players from the lower leagues in the U.K. they all seem to come together as a team and this might give the others in the group something to worry about. Very experienced defenders with the likes of Jonny Evans, Gareth Mcauley, Chris Baird and Aaron Hughes they won't be easy to break down. It will be interesting to see if Kyle Lafferty will be joined up top with Will Grigg who has scored plenty for Wigan this season.
They'll be hoping to sneak out of this group but might just fall short.
Prediction : 3rd/4th in group.
Player to watch : Steven Davis. (Southampton)
GROUP D-
SPAIN : The holders and back to back winners (2008,2012) !! Yes, the last team to win the Euro's before Spain were Greece can you believe. Now, you could say Spain are in transition but you just look at the squad and think, how do these lot ever get beat ??? They still have a mix of experience and youth and i do expect them to come close this time around again. No Torres this time around who is a Euro specialist when it comes to scoring, mad decision from Del Bosque. Will they be starting with veteran Casillas or De Gea ? Will they be starting with or without a striker ? who knows, one thing for sure is that they will pass you to death. They haven't been convincing of late though and if you can get at the defence they do leak a few goals, unlike previous years where they were literally untouchable. This group won't be straight forward for them either, if Croatia are at it they could pip them to top spot.
Prediction : Semi's/Final.
Player to watch : Alvaro Morata. (Juventus)
CZECH REPUBLIC : Jan Koller comes to mind straight away doesn't it ? The 6ft7in striker who is the all time top scorer for the Czech Republic, anyway enough of him, he retired 5 years ago !!!! They had a fantastic qualifying campaign, finishing top of a group where Holland finished 4th and beating them home and away, brilliant achievement. Most of the squad do play their football in the Czech Republic with Sparta Prague who have under achieved this year by not winning the league for once.
You could say it's a bit surprising Rosicky has been included in the squad after a year out of football with injuries but he's a legend in the Czech Republic and how could you leave him out ?
Petr Cech will be hoping to carry his league form into the Euro's and helping his side qualify from this group but i think they might just miss out.
Prediction : 3rd in group.
Player to watch : David Lafata. (Sparta Prague)
TURKEY : Turkey, Turkey, Turkey.....
After watching them in the warm up game against England you'd think they had been told to break everyone's legs in order to qualify ?
They were missing a host of top class players in that game though who have just ended their season in Turkey and also Arda Turan's participation in the Copa Del Rey final, (if you can call it participate).
Their top scoring striker Burak Yilmaz now plays in China, hardly the most competitive league in the world so who knows what form he will be in.
They will be competitive and won't give up without a fight but i don't think they stand a chance in this group with the other teams being better prepared and disciplined.
Prediction : 4th in group.
Player to watch : Hakan Calhanoglu. (Bayer Leverkusen)
CROATIA : Now, this squad has real potential and could make it very far in this tournament providing no injuries and everything clicking in to place. Finishing 2nd behind Italy in qualifying but being the better team in both games against them. They will hope their fans behave though, costing them a point during qualification for racist behaviour during the home match against Italy. The defence have been playing together for a while now with a combined 250 caps between them, this surely being Darijo Srna's last tournament. Remember Vedran Corluka Tottenham fans ? he now plays his football in Russia for Lokomotiv Moscow and will line up at Centre half for the Croatians.
In midfield there is endless talent, Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic, Kovacic and Barcelona 19 year old Halilovic.
They also have a Premier League Champion in Kramaric, who was on loan all last season may i add (i bet he regrets that). They might possibly win this group.
Prediction : Quarter Final.
Player to watch : Mario Mandzukic. (Juventus)
GROUP E-
BELGIUM : We've all been looking at Belgium for a few years now and thinking, How is this team not doing better ? But you do think that this could be the time it all comes together. This is the 1st time they've qualified for the European Championships for 16 years mind and are newbies to this tournament but they will be hoping to impress straight away with a lot of players playing for top teams in England, Spain, France and Italy.
There will be a lot of upset players when it comes to the first game though with so much talent and only 11 places to fight for, Marc Wilmots will have a tough job keeping everyone happy.
If they do come out firing then they will be winners of this group.
Prediction : Quarter Final.
Player to watch : Kevin De Bruyne. (Manchester City)
ITALY : You never know what you're going to get from the Italians when it comes to these major tournaments, not been much match fixing scandals going on before the tournament so that suggests they won't go far ?
For those that don't know what i mean, when there is a scandal of some sort, Italy tend to go on and do well in the tournament, strange i know.
They won't be leaking many goals that's for sure, with the famous Juve 4 of Buffon, Bonucci, Barzagli and Chiellini who will be the 1st players on the team sheet, knowing each other inside out.
However, losing the creativity and composure of Pirlo this summer will be MASSIVE and even his replacement Verratti out injured, there is a huge gap in there, with De Rossi perhaps not the most creative of players. Scoring goals will also be a problem and that showed in the recent friendly against a poor Scotland side.
However when Italy score first they are possibly one of the toughest to peg back.
Prediction : 2nd in group, Quarter Final.
Player to watch : Lorenzo Insigne. (Napoli)
REP OF IRELAND : Qualifying through the 2 legged play-off route against a half decent Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ireland will be looking to cause a few upsets here. With most players coming from the Premier League or Championship they have a good and solid group with a mix of youth and experience. Robbie Keane, John O'shea and Shay Given 3 players who will be playing in their last tournament no doubt with over 100 caps for Ireland. The defence of the other 3 teams in this group will be looking at Long's pace as a real threat. They held Holland to a 1-1 draw recently in a warm up game and have one last game in front of their home fans against Belarus before they set off for France and play Sweden in their 1st game, where they would HAVE to get something you think if they want to stand any chance of progressing to the next round.
Prediction : 3rd/4th in group.
Player to watch : Shane Long. (Southampton)
SWEDEN : ''I came like a king, i left like a legend''
Zlatan's words a couple of months back, announcing he's leaving PSG this summer, and he'll be saying the same words in what will probably be his last tournament for Sweden, which he'll probably be happy about to be fair, carrying the other 10 players throughout most of his career. He might form a good partnership with Celta Vigo's John Guidetti though, if the manager is bold enough to play 2 up front that is. They haven't looked good in their last few friendlies though, maybe they're saving something for their opener in France ?
They might make it out of this group if the man is on red hot form.
Prediction : 3rd in group.
Player to watch : Zlatan Ibrahimovic. (PSG, on the move)
GROUP F-
PORTUGAL : If only Portugal could call upon one of the best players in the world this summer to lead them out, oh wait....
They have certainly disappointed over the year and have NEVER won a major tournament can you believe ? With some of the outstanding players they've had it is hard to believe but no one ever seems to fancy them. Ever since losing in their home tournament in Euro 2004 to Greece in the final they have never bounced back. Ronaldo himself, doesn't seem to have it in him when it comes to playing for his country, is it because he always comes off the back of a long season for his club ? But then again so have the rest of the players participating in this tournament, who knows ?
They have looked better recently though and have started to string some results together, some good players in this squad now in Nani, William Carvalho, the drama queen Pepe, Southampton's Fonte and Soares, Vierinha and the young Renato Sanches who has recently signed for Bayern Munich for a large amount of money. They should come through this group but i still don't see them progressing too far.
Prediction : Quarter final.
Player to watch : Cristiano Ronaldo. (Real Madrid)
ICELAND : One thing that i can guarantee is that there will be a name on the teamsheet ending in SSON for Iceland this summer. By the way massive congratulations to them as this is their first ever participation in any major tournament. They can play some football these Icelandics though and won't just be going to France for a holiday, they beat Holland twice in qualification which is no fluke. Veteran Eidur Gudjohnsen HAS been named in the squad can you believe at 37 years of age !!! Not sure if he'll be a starter although everyone would love to see him play. They could challenge for 2nd spot in this group providing they come prepared and carry on their form from the qualifying campaign.
Prediction : 2nd/3rd in group, 2nd round.
Player to watch : Gylfi Sigurdsson. (Swansea City)
AUSTRIA : The only other European Championship Austra qualified for was the 2008 competition which they co-hosted with Switzerland, which gained them automatic qualification. So this is the first time they have achieved it through the qualification process and boy did they do it convincingly, finishing top of their group unbeaten, winning 9 and drawing the other. There seems to be a belief around Austria with this squad, made up of a lot of players playing in Germany and a few from the Premier League where Leicester are being represented again with Left back and Captain Christian Fuchs. Prödl and Wimmer also from the Premier League with Spurs and Watford. Now they will be hoping to push Portugal to that top spot but will happily settle for 2nd in this group.
Prediction : 2nd in group, 2nd round.
Player to watch : Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City)
HUNGARY : Last but not least (well maybe least) we have Hungary, who we don't really know much about do we really ?
They haven't featured in a European Championship for over 40 years.
Does anyone remember Gabor Kiraly ? You know, the former Fulham/Crystal Palace goalkeeper who wears tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts in every match he plays, well, he's still around at the age of 40 and hopefully we'll be able to see him in goal for Hungary, becoming the oldest ever to play in the Euro's.
Also 37 year old Zoltan Gera with feature for Hungary who now plays for Ferencvaros.
They're not as bad as you think but the bookies suggest so, at 350/1 they'll be hoping to pull off a ''Leicester''.
Prediction : 4th in group.
Player to watch : Adam Szalai. (Hannover)
I'm going for De Bruyne to be top goalscorer in the competition as there is a little bit of value in it at 40/1 and France to win it, although we all hope they don't !!!
Everyone will have their opinion, some will agree and some will disagree but that's what football's about at the end of the day, it would be pretty rubbish otherwise wouldn't it ? Now that i've bored you all to death let me know who you think will be top goalscorer and who you think will win the tournament.
Luca Rizzo.
