Euro 2020 is just around the corner and I'm well excited! The world is now hopefully seeing the back end of the Coronavirus pandemic and we can go into the summer of 2021 with high hopes for the future and a good European Championship.
What I love most about the International tournaments - whether it's the Euro's or the World Cup - is the build up. I love putting up the score chart in my kitchen or bedroom and taking note of the eye catching games. That way I can see which days I'll be having a binge day of football on the sofa or a session at the pub.
I also love to read pages of magazines previewing the tournament. British magazine FourFourTwo do an incredible job jotting down information about every team, how they qualified, the key players etc.
How could anyone forget the times as a kid when the Pannini sticker albums would come out?Schools across the country would flood with stickers - it used to drive teachers and parents up the wall! Opening those packs at 6-11 years old were going to end up in two ways: either the best day of your life after packing a much needed Cristiano Ronaldo or the absolute worst day ever because you got that Danish left back for what felt like the 20th time! Tantrums were thrown.
The excitement has been building and the Premier League is almost coming to a close. Here are 5 reasons why Euro 2020 will be epic!
1. It's been a tough time for us all and the tournament has been delayed.
Hence the name Euro 2020, the finals were meant to take place last summer but were cancelled because of you know what. Now that the domestic seasons have been going ahead as planned in Europe, the competition can safely go ahead for 2021.
2020 was a difficult year for all and I was certainly gutted when I heard the Euro's were going to be cancelled as well as being trapped at home. After boring winter lockdowns, walking through empty town centres and not being able to see friends and family - why would you not want to look forward to it? The tournament will be a blast, no matter what happens (although I pray England don't crash out to Iceland again... oh wait, all good. They haven't qualified!)
2. Fans are back
Aren't you just bored of watching football matches and seeing those empty stadiums? Isn't the fake crowd noise just doing your head in now? It certainly is for me. How have Sky and BT not come up with the "You don't know what you're doing!" button yet?
In the UK, we haven't seen full stadiums since March 2020 and the same goes across Europe. Fans were briefly allowed back in the grounds in tier 1-2 parts of the UK in December 2020 - those were numbers of roughly 2,000 fans. However another spike of Coronavirus saw the country back into lockdown and stadium turnstiles closed again.
Now that cases are going down, vaccinations are being done and the summer is on it's way, fans will be allowed back in the selected stadiums for Euro 2020. The English FA has announced that 22,500 fans will be allowed in Wembley for all three of England's group fixtures. Home soil, fans are back - don't disappoint lads.
Saint Petersberg and Baku aim to have 50% capacity.
Budapest will squeeze in a 100% capacity (now that's what we like to hear!)
Munich, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Rome and Seville will allow a 22-33% capacity.
Full house at Wembley for the final?
3. England
England have a... er.... good team.
It's our next golden generation of players. The Three Lions have a buffet of attacking talent as tasty as an all you can eat restaurant. The likes of Foden, Sterling, Rashford, Grealish, Mount, Sancho, Kane, Calvert-Lewin are all available - even a bizarrely out of favour James Maddison is an option and he's an insane player!
The midfield looks pretty comfortable in Rice and Henderson, it's just the defence which is a concern - amongst the fans anyway. Gareth Southgate doesn't quite know who his best full backs are when Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the best in the world in his right back position.
Centre back partnership John Stones and Harry Maguire still have their critics (A friend of mine absolutely cannot stand the pair of them!) Stones has been ace for his club Manchester City this season but is occasionally prone to error and Harry Maguire hasn't been great since his switch to the red side of Manchester in 2019.
I absolutely want to say we can win it - my heart says we can. After 2018, it's so hard not to get your hopes up. We all dream of parties on July 11th, Boris Johnson to announce a national holiday the next day and Gareth Southgate to be knighted. Then you realise Portugal, France and Belgium are in the tournament. Burnley's Nick Pope can save a Ronaldo penalty, right?
4. Some Tasty Ties for Your Calendars!
You probably hear this every year but some of the games for this summers European festival are ones that'll have you sat on the edge of your sofas or nervously sipping pints at your local boozer. You don't want to miss some off these.
Turkey v Italy - 11th June, 20:00
Simple really, It's the opening game! The Azzuri are back after the shock horror of failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2018 and are on home soil against the Turks in Rome on June 11th.
After watching Shakira or Dua Lipa singing their best hits with colourfully dressed dancers around them for the rather impressive but slightly time consuming opening ceremony, we could possibly see goals from Ciro Immobile or a Turkish delight masterclass. Hopefully Leicester City's very own Lord Farquaad (aka Caglur Soyoncu) grabs headlines.
England v Scotland - 18th June, 20:00
No need to explain really. The auld enemy. The Scots versus the English on a Friday night! Wembley at war for the first time since Euro 96. Just need Phil Foden to recreate Gazza's wonder goal... not the celebration though.
France v Germany - 15 June, 20:00
Two European heavyweights battling it out for points and bragging rights in a challenging group of death. Don't make any plans for this one.
Denmark v Belgium - 17 June, 17:00
Not the game saved in many people's calendars but I think this one will be entertaining. The Danes are dark horses and Belgium's golden generation will have their last hurrah at attempting silverware (or maybe in 2022). Both sides have lot's of exciting players and Belgium have the quality to go above and beyond in the tournament. Denmark will dream of a repeat of 1992 but it's probably a step too far for them.
Portugal v France - 23 June, 20:00
A repeat of the Euro 2016 final, France will be looking to get revenge on Portugal after what happened that night in Paris five years ago. The Portuguese beat the French 0-1 after extra time thanks to Eder's spectacular strike to take home a first European crown. The current champions look strong favourites this summer to attack the title again with the scarily good players in the squad.
France may have been crowned World champions in Russia three years ago but Les Blues will still feel bitter after their party was ended in their own backyard by Portugal at Euro 2016... and plenty of moths (they ended Ronaldo's party as well).
5. It's a Summer of Football!
Remember the scenes across the country at World Cup 2018? The beer flying everywhere in those fan parks? Well make the most of this year because at World Cup 2022, pubs across the country will have hot chocolate flying everywhere because it'll be a winter World Cup that's going to finish just before Christmas.
Pub gardens will be fully booked, fan parks will be open, the sun will hopefully be shining and it'll feel like 2018 again - whether England do well or not. Summertime and football, it's a perfect combination.
To Conclude...
Can England win on penalties again? Could Hungry get out of the group death? Will Finnish fans build Teemu Pukki a statue if he bags a hat-trick for them? And will Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo defend the trophy?
It's all tough to call but all I know is that Euro 2020 will be epic!
By Ed Ettridge