It doesn’t feel that long since the last World Cup finished but it must now be two years ago since the Euro championship finals are already upon us. Traditionally, I’ve always said that I enjoy the European championships more than the World Cup but, since I thought the last World Cup in Brazil was exceptional, I’m wondering whether I will change my mind on this. The Euro championships have now been expanded with 24 teams taking part with an utterly confusing group stage leading to a new “round of 16”. I’m hoping that the opening stages don’t become too turgid but at least having the games played in France will mean that they are all on at a sensible time.
In the past I’ve tried to predict the winners and usually failed miserably. So, this time I’m predicting the hosts, France, to win as I think home advantage combined with a decent young team with a few exciting new stars will do it for them: in the past few tournaments they have been bedevilled by infighting but most of the main trouble causers seem to have moved on and the couple that are left seem capable of biting their lips. Anyway, aside from Group A, I think Group B will be won by England (this could be close but I think Russia and Wales will draw); Group C should be Germany; Group D will be Spain (with Turkey a close second); Group E Belgium (with Italy second) and Group F will be Portugal. There, I’ve now cursed the chances of all the favourites!
Of course Scotland won’t be participating after managing, somehow, to mess up qualification yet again. It’s rather ironic since that, if opinion polls are to be believed, Scotland are the only part of the UK that really want to be in Europe in the first place. The reaction amongst Scotland fans now seems to be one of sad resignation that they will be spending yet another summer looking for a suitable “diddy” team to support as a surrogate. Looking through fan forums the “Celtics” and “Scandinavians” seem to be the most popular choices. Ideally, they should support Iceland (with a population the size of Edinburgh) but Norn Ireland also appear popular with many of their players plying their trade in Scotland. Amongst the larger nations, Germany have quite a few fans due to their style of play and England seem to have accumulate quite a few Caledonian supporters – at least at the moment.
I’m waiting for the “Anybody But England” sentiments to start but at the moment a combination of English Premier League coverage and reflections along the lines of “it’s about time that they won something” seem to be quite popular amongst Scots cheering on the “Three Lions.” This will no doubt subside once the tabloid press start making tasteless comparisons to the Second World War. I think this would be a pity because the England team seem to have a lot of young talented players in their ranks. I have a suspicion that they will be weighed down by the few established players that have made the squad in spite of not having recovered from injuries or not recovering the form that they were renowned for several seasons earlier. I don’t think they will win it but I’d be surprised if they don’t get as far as the quarter finals.
So I’m looking forward to this: the wallchart is printed and ready, the TV schedules have been checked and suitable refreshments are now lining the refrigerator. I’m just hoping that the tournament is memorable for the right reasons. International sporting events can be a great way of bringing people together and I’m sure that the French will put on a great spectacle as they did when they hosted the World Cup as well as annual events like the Tour de France. However, the threat of disruption is still there. I was watching the television coverage of the Germany vs France match at the Stade de France last November when a terrorist bomb went off outside the stadium and even in the last week a right-wing nutter was been arrested with guns and explosives.
At the time of last Novembers atrocities I actually thought the explosion was a firework of some sort (fireworks in football stadiums are a particular bugbear of mine) and it was only later when the commentators mentioned the other, more serious, events in Paris that night that I realised what it was. However, it is worth bearing in mind that the security at the stadium worked, and I have a lot of faith in the French security services even if it only takes one lunatic to cause mayhem (remember it’s also the 20th Anniversary of the Manchester bombing which happened during the Euro 96 competition).
Anyway, I’m sick to death of hearing about the Euro referendum so let’s look forward to a month of Euro 2016 football.
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