France
OHOW THEY QUALIFIED Winners of
Group H, ahead of Turkey, who were the
only team to take points off Les Bleus,
winning 2-0 in Istanbul and drawing 0-0
in Paris.
OTHE COACH Didier Deschamps won a
World Cup and Euro double as a player in
1998 and 2000. Can he become the
first coach to also achieve that?
OKEY PLAYERS Deschamps has an
embarrassment of riches available to him,
including striker Kylian Mbappe, forward
Antoine Griezmann and midfielder
N’Golo Kante, as well as Raphael Varane,
captain and leader at the back.
OPLAYER TO WATCH A great deal of
adverse comment was passed when
Olivier Giroud failed to score in France’s
World Cup triumph last year, not even
registering a shot on target in 546
minutes of action. However, remains
a trusted partner of Deschamps,
who adores his physical presence and
dressing room influence. Irony alert:
he recently became the third-highest
goalscorer in the history of the French
national team.
Germany
OHOW THEY QUALIFIED Winners of
Group C, ahead of Holland despite
suffering a 4-2 defeat to the Dutch in
Hamburg in September. They bounced
back with a 2-0 win over Northern
Ireland in Belfast and cruised through the
final matches, ending with comfortable
wins over Belarus and Northern Ireland.
OTHE COACH Euro 2020 will be
Joachim Low’s seventh major tournament
in charge, having assisted Jurgen
Klinsmann at the 2006 World Cup.
Faced calls to quit after the humiliating
exit from the group stage of the 2018
World Cup but has re-booted the side
after ditching of Thomas Muller, Jerome
Boateng and Mats Hummels.OKEY PLAYERS Former Arsenal starlet
Serge Gnabry emerged as key, finishing
as top scorer with eight goals, while Toni
Kroos, at 29, is the elder statesman of
the side. Bayern full-back Joshua
Kimmich excels in central midfield.OPLAYER TO WATCH While midfielder
Kai Havertz has only started a handful of
games, the day when he becomes an
undisputed first choice must be drawing
near. As much as Low has tried to ease
the 20-year-old in gently, once-in-a-
generation talents have, ultimately, to be
used. Excelled in an unfamiliar role as a
deep-lying pivot in a 2-2 friendly draw
with Argentina in September.Holland
OHOW THEY QUALIFIED Second in
Group C behind Germany, they survived a
scare in Rotterdam in October, when they
went 1-0 down to Northern Ireland with a
quarter of hour remaining before
recovering to score twice in injury time.OTHE COACH Ronald Koeman, a
member of a Dutch team that won the
1988 European Championship after
failing to qualify for Euro 84 and the
1986 World Cup, was charged with
reviving a side that missed out on Euro
2016 and the 2018 World Cup.OKEY PLAYERS A new generationraised at Ajax – Matthijs De Ligt, Frenkie
De Jong and Donny Van de Beek – has
complemented the more experienced
Memphis Depay, Virgil Van Dijk and
Georginio Wijnaldum, who was the top
scorer in qualifying with eight goalsOPLAYER TO WATCH Every time
left-winger Ryan Babel is picked by
Oranje boss Ronald Koeman, many in the
Dutch media let out a collective moan.
For some he is too inconsistent and past
his prime, but Koeman begs to differ,
happy to stress how important the
32-year-old is to his plans. The
Bondscoach makes a valid point and,
in September, Babel was outstanding
in Holland’s 4-2 victory in Germany.Italy
OHOW THEY QUALIFIED Qualification
was never in doubt as the Azzurri won
all 10 games and set a new record when
surpassing the nine-match consecutive
winning run recorded by Vittorio Pozzo’s
World Cup-winning side of 1938-39. The
37 goals were shared among the squad;
Andrea Belotti was top scorer with five.OTHE COACH Since taking charge in
May 2018, when Italy were still licking
their wounds after failing to qualify for
the World Cup, Roberto Mancini has
restored confidence with a high-pressing,
attacking game and introduced a number
of exciting young players, including Roma
teenager Nicolo Zaniolo and Inter
midfielder Nicolo Barella,SPECIAL
FEATUREGroup game...Germany’s Jonathan Tah (left) and Ryan Babel of Holland
Trusted...
Olivier Giroud