The Euro Cup 2021 preview – (Group A, B, and C)

As the whole world sets themselves for the greatest event of the calendar. The Euro Cup 2021 is all set to deliver the world a glimpse of a mega international tournament, after the worldwide blow by the pandemic. The delayed tournament that was initially scheduled to take place last year, is finally set to unveil on the 12th of June. The main thing the separates the Euro Cup from all the other football tournaments, even the FIFA World Cup, is their range of host cities spread across Europe. This edition is set to be hosted among 11 European Mega Cities, across 11 European Nations. With the final taking place in the all-iconic Wembley, this year’s Euro Cup is on stakes to become the biggest international sporting event of all time.

For the main event, 24 European Nations have been qualified and divided among 6 groups stating alphabetically from A – F, where the top 2 teams of each group after the group stage qualify for the next round with the teams that finish third with a second chance through a playoff. After the group stage, the tournament will be held upon an all-exciting knockout fixture, till the grand finale. To take a deeper dive into the groups, the teams, and all the top players to look out for, in our first part of the article, let’s talk about the first three groups – A, B, and C.

Group A

The group consists of Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, and Wales.

To start off with Italy, there is no hiding how desperate they are to forecast their improvement in world football after disgracefully failing to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2018. The four-time world champions had their ups and downs but as it seems, the glorious days are back as Italy, currently, 7th on the FIFA World Cup, is yet to lose a single game since the September of 2018. Their balanced squad, full of young and experienced is one of the major contenders of the tournament. Lead by Gorgio Chiellini, the country makes its appearance on the opening day of the tournament against Turkey.

Turkey on the other hand is will certainly be the underdog of the group as of their rating. But the country now boosts with great confidence after beating the mighty Netherlands 4-2 on the World Cup qualifiers last May. To add more hopes to their team, their current coach, Senol Gunes, in son other than their iconic coach to guide them to their historic World Cup campaign where they finished 3rd back in 2002. Their recent counter-attacking strategy has been somewhat impressive enough to make them a team to watch out for.

Next on the radar is Gareth Bale’s Wales. The team filled with promising young and old with the greatness of Gareth Bale himself as he regains his form and confidence after moving back to Tottenham this season on a loan. After being constantly under admired at Real Madrid, Bale finally made a comeback at the far end of Tottenham’s disappointing series, scoring 11 goals to end the season. Throughout the recent matches, The Wales National Football team was seen playing Harry Wilson as a false nine, with Bale and Daniel James cutting in from both sides. Overall, their star power makes them one of the major candidates to finish on the top two of the group.

Switzerland, a nation one might not take in as a big challenge, but the truth is they, just like Italy, hold a tremendous recent record. Being defeated in only one game in the past three years! Added on to which, they defeated Liechtenstein by 7 goals to nil in their most recent game and are headed towards the Euro Cup full of confidence. Coached by Vladimir Petkovic, the team maintained a 3-4-3 lineup, attacking on the width to seek out goals, while having a good defense. The team on their good day can cause upsets to any major football-playing nation, whether or not one takes them as a challenge.

Prediction: Italy and Wales finish first and second, with Switzerland in third.

Group B

The group consists of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Russia.

Being on the top of the FIFA World rankings, Belgium football is on the rise and is a hot favorite to bag the trophy. Under Roberto Martinez, the team is well settled in a 3-4-3 combination, which then advances in a 5-2-3 defensive posture when required. The star players, Kevin de Bruyne, Courtois, and Romero Lukaku are all in red-hot form. However, their captain Eden Hazard has had a season to forget at Real Madrid and was only very recently back in the national squad. But the no. 1 team on FIFA rankings will for sure pose a threat on anyone that crosses their path.

Finland on the other hand is the lowest-ranked team in the whole tournament. Appearing on their first-ever Euro Cup, they are only happy to even be here. However, their recent defeats in the World Cup qualifiers leading up to the Euros shaw a sign of concern. With players both young and old, the team has utmost respect and belief in their coach Keneva, who has been the light to their recent progress.

Denmark has been handled by Kasper Hjulmand for less than a year, however, their star player and leader Simon Kjear has been with the squad and in full swing throughout the season. The team too has a balanced squad of both experienced and young blood, with Christian Eriksen as their main man on the field and in charge of creativity. With very decent and expected results from their latest games, Denmark will be one of the top two contestants from the group.

The third trouble maker of the group will be Russia, a team that has only raised from the last 2018 World Cup as hosts, where they defeated Spain to advance till the quarter-finals. The nation’s football team is still coached by their miracle World Cup campaign, Stanislav Cherchesov. The team plays an asymmetrical lineup that plays both 3-3-4 and at times 4-2-4. They like to attack with the fullbacks and have genuine quality throughout the squad. Their flexibility and quality show them as a great threat to Denmark for the second spot.

Prediction: Belgium tops the group with Denmark at second and Russia in third.

Group C

The group consists of Austria, Netherlands, North Macedonia, and Ukraine.

Unlike the previous two groups, group C is fairly less competitive with the Netherlands being the man among boys. The Dutch football team has been on a rise under Ronald Koeman, but since his departure to FC Barcelona, the team has had mixed results under Frank de Boer. one of the biggest blows for the team would be the unavailability of their main man in defense, Vergil van Dijk, who already missed a major portion of the season to injury and now further ahead to the Euros as well. However, the star-fire-filled squad has loads of potential and is expected to finish the group stage on the top.

Austria under Franco Foda is a versatile squad with top-tier talent, particularly from Bundesliga clubs. They have had mixed results over the period leading up to the Euros and have had constant changes in their strategy. However, they are more versatile than unsettled as their formations always link -up eventually to a counter-attacking football. The squad filled with influential stars like David Alaba will hope to advance through the group stages quite confidently.

Like Finland, North Macedonia has never qualified for a major competition before. The nation too is happy enough to participate, but unlike Finland, they have had the opportunity to beat Germany in Germany very recently. Thus they can be literally anyone on there which will boost the nation of rising football to advance further in the future.

Andriy Shevchenko has steered Ukraine to their first-ever direct qualification for the Euros. The vastly experienced striker has worked under some of the world’s foremost managers and has clearly learned tactical flexibility from those mentors. however, the squad is still very unsettled as they approached a number of formations and players in the recent past. But they do hold a decent recent performance with wins against Germany and Spain. The team will surely try their luck to compete in Austria for second place.

Prediction: The Netherlands finishes first, with Austria and Ukraine in second and third respectively.

Let me know what you feel of these three squads and stay tuned for the reviews of the other three groups including the group of death, Group F.