In a single venue and with an audience in the stadiums. The European Championship (June 14 – July 14) regains its best face in Germany, with the host team on the rise and France and England as betting favorites.
The memory of 2021 is already distant, when the competition spread across the continent to celebrate its 60th anniversary. The tournament was postponed for a year due to the pandemic, but had to be played with different security measures depending on the host countries.
A logistical puzzle for UEFA that led to a much cooler atmosphere than in previous editions, with the traditional European summer party with its thousands of fans traveling to the organizing country.
The champion was Italy, a milestone for a historic team that is in decline, out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
To defend the title, the Italians will first have to go through the group of death, facing Spain and Croatia, winner and finalist of the last edition of the League of Nations, respectively, in addition to Albania.
Germany proposes a very different tournament, divided into ten stadiums, most of them with an ancient history, such as the Berlin Olympic Stadium, opened in 1936 and which will host the final, or the Cologne Stadium, which celebrated its century anniversary last year.
Ready for EURO 2024! 🤩#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/Fb7WEdgJff
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) March 26, 2024
MbappĂ©’s distractions
The main stars are in the two teams considered favorites: France with Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann, and England with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
In the French, captain Mbappé is worried about many open fronts: he is leaving Paris Saint-Germain and, according to the press, he is on his way to Real Madrid, while even the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, is working to ensure that the star is in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“I know there are many questions around Kylian, but the context of the France team is different, it is a collective project and has responsibilities,” said coach Didier Deschamps.
England intend to close the wound that was left open at Wembley three years ago, when they were defeated on penalties by Italy in the final. The English have not lifted a trophy since the 1966 World Cup.
CR7 and Modric endless
The range of candidates for the title necessarily extends to hosts Germany, since the arrival of coach Julian Nagelsmann and the return of Toni Kroos in his last competition as a player, after saying goodbye to club football with Real Madrid’s 15th title in the League of the Champions last Saturday.
His Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric, 38, will lead the Croatian national team, finalist in the 2018 World Cup and semi-finalist in the 2022 World Cup.
Eight months away from turning 40, Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal’s good team, with players in all the big European clubs.
CR7, who is with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, is an authentic collector of records in the European Championship: top scorer in the history of the tournament (14 goals), most games played (25) and will become the player with the most appearances (six) , after being present in all editions since its debut in 2004.
Champion with Portugal in 2016, the star will try to regain his protagonism in European lands.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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