7 minute read
Football’s coming home
Wembley Stadium will be at the centre of the sporting universe this summer as the 24 competing nations aim for a place in the final of UEFA EURO 2020 on July 11. Club Football looks at the three teams who will be carrying British hopes in the tournament.
It’ s a fair bet that Skinner and Baddiel’ s seminal football anthem Three Lions is going to be getting some serious airplay on the nation ’ s radio stations this summer with football very much set to come home as the delayed 2020 European Championships kick off on June 11 and reaches its climax a month later under the iconic arch of Wembley Stadium.
Clubs across England, Scotland and Wales will be expecting a major boost to trade as their national sides take part in the 24-team tournament which will play out in venues across 11 countries.
At the time of writing, it is England who are among the bookies ’ favourites to lift the trophy on July11andsecureamajortitleforthefirsttimesince 1966, a scenario which seems all the more likely given that they will be playing the majority of their games at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate ’ s men enjoyed a near-perfect record qualifying for the tournament – their only defeat coming in October 2019 when they slumped to a 2-1 loss against Czech Republic – and they look to have a very effective blend of talent at their disposal.
TheirtopscorerinthequalifierswasTottenham ’ s HarryKaneandEnglandfanswillbehopingthatthe talismanic Spurs striker and national captain will remain fit throughout the tournament and build on his inspirational showing at the 2018 World Cup.
The man himself is certainly looking forward to leading the Three Lions in the Euros and believes that the team will receive a major boost from the form shown by English teams in Europe this season.
“We have a lot of English players playing at the topoftheirgame, ” saidKane. “Thatshouldonlyhelp usasanationalside.Youwantthemgettingexposed to the biggest games around the world. ”
“Our group has grown stronger year by year. We ’ ve got a good mix of experience and young talent and it’ s important to have that, especially in a tournament environment.
“I’ m sure Gareth has got a bit of a headache of who to pick but that’ s what we want. We want competition for places and that’ s the only way we ’ re going to be one of the best teams in the world.
“We had a great World Cup in 2018. We didn ’t quite get over the line, so with the players we ’ ve got and the manager and the group of staff it’ s a great opportunity for us and we ’ re excited for the challenge. We know it will be difficult but we ’ ve got enough ability to try and take it all the way. ”
England – who face Croatia, Czech Republic and Scotland in Group D – will be on familiar territory for much of the tournament. The Three Lions are
the top seeds in the group and all three of their games take place at Wembley.
They certainly get off to an intriguing start to the tournament as they take on Croatia, who knocked England out of the 2018 World Cup in the semifinals. They will then face Scotland in a highly-anticipated meeting, before rounding off the group stage against Czech Republic.
Iftheytoptheirgroup,theywillmeettherunnersup of Group F – Portugal, Germany, France or Hungary – at Wembley in the Round of 16.
If England finish second in their group, they will take on the winners of Group E, one of Spain, Poland, Sweden, Slovakia.
There is another possibility for England – they could progress from the group stages as one of the six best third-placed teams.
Whichever route they take, England are sure to have a massive groundswell of support behind them as they progress.
Scotland
As for England’ s Group D opponents Scotland, this willbejustthethirdtimetheyhavereachedthefinals of the European Championships, following on from 1992 and 1996 when they were eliminated during the group stages – and this is the first major championship they have been involved in since the 1998 World Cup.
There were many edge-of-seat moments before they could qualify – including penalty shootouts in both the play-off semi-final and final – but this gave way to mass euphoria when Steve Clarke ’ s men successfully booked their place at Euro 2020.
One of the key men for Scotland has been Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn who was in fine form for his country during the Euro qualifiers and has carried on in the same vein in the more recent World Cup qualifiers.
McGinn believes that taking part in Euro 2020 could be a springboard to even greater achievements.
“The excitement is a good thing but the manager stressesthatwedon ’twantittobeaone-off, ”hesaid. “Themanagerwasstressingthatwedon ’twanttobe one-tournament wonders and we all share the same belief.
“When the manager came in we just wanted to give the country a team to be proud of, we are not quite there yet but we are certainly building towards it. ”
“I think there has been anticipation building, we had to be professional and focus on these three World Cup qualifiers but it has been tough, we all have our eyes on something we have dreamed about for a long time, not only for us as players but as supporters, everyone involved.
“We are just keeping everything crossed that thingscandevelop,thevaccinecankeepchargingon and we can get some supporters in.
“I know a lot of Scotland fans who travel everywhere and have experienced so much disappointmentandsomanynearmissessoitismoreforthem and for us as well. ”
Scotland’ s tournament begins on June 14 at the home of Scottish football – Hampden Park – where Scotland host Croatia, before they make the trip to Wembley to face England on June 18 in a match which will rekindle memories of the fiery Euro ‘96 clash between the two rivals at the same venue.
The Scots then return to Hampden on June 22 to play Croatia, as they look to book a place in the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time in their history.
Wales
Wales complete the triumvirate of British nations taking their rightful place on the big stage this summer and have a lot to live up to given their heroics in Euro 2016 when they reached the semi-finals where they were beaten 2-0 by eventual champions Portugal.
It has not been the smoothest of build-ups to the tournament with manager Ryan Giggs replaced due to his ongoing legal issues by Robert Page but confidence will be high given the quality of the squad available for the tournament.
Unlike England and Scotland, Wales will not enjoy any home comforts during the group stages with two of the games taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan and one in Rome in Group A.
“From the staff’ s point of view, we ’ re fully focused on what’ s ahead and we ’ re all looking forward to it, ” said Page. “It’ s a great opportunity for the boys to compete against the best in Europe and show what we ’ re capable of doing. ”
“Wehavesetahighbarfrombeforeandofcourse we want to match that, so we want to just continue along this path.
“We have got a couple of tough friendlies, against France and Albania in June, and some great camps coming up to get us all together. Mentally and physically they will all be ready. ”
Wales ’ fortunes in the tournament will undoubtedly rely heavily on their star players performing. Inevitably, the media spotlight will be on superstar GarethBale,whowillbeexpectedtoputasideafairlyunsettledperiodatSpursundernow-sackedmanager Jose Mourinho and turn on the style for his country.
Wales open their Euro 2020 account against SwitzerlandinBakuonJune12,thentakeonTurkey four days later before heading to Rome for a showdown with Italy on June 20.
Italy will undoubtedly be the favourites to top the group, especially given their home advantage in all three group games, but Wales have every chance of progressing to the knockout stages, particularly if they can recapture the indomitable spirit they showed in 2016.
Whichever teams reach the showpiece final on July 11, the delayed Euro 2020 is sure to provide plenty of entertainment and drama for club members this summer. Altogether now: “It’ s coming home, it’ s coming home, football’ s coming home!” <
