World Soccer - UK (2019-12)

OTHE COACH Since his appointment
in 2014, former Lazio boss Vladimir
Petkovic has steered the Swiss to
the last 16 of both Euro 2016 and
the 2018 World Cup.

OKEY PLAYERS Despite his problems
at Arsenal, Granit Xhaka retains a crucial
role in midfield, while Wolfsburg full-back
Kevin Mbabu was one of the revelations
of the qualifying campaign. St Gallen’s
Cedric Itten made a dramatic impact with
goals in the final two matches.

OPLAYER TO WATCH Without Borussia
Monchengladbach defensive midfield
powerhouse Denis Zakaria, Switzerland
are, to put it frankly, only half the side.
The Geneva-born 23-year-old performs
the duties of two or three men. He
crunches into challenges, tidies up in
front of the back-four, distributes the ball
with care and is relentlessly active, often
covering as much as 11km per game. He
is dynamic, sets the tempo and issues the
orders. Indispensable.

Turkey

OHOW THEY QUALIFIED Runners-up
in Group H behind world champions
France after an impressive campaign
during which they lost only one game,
to Iceland in Reykjavik.

OTHE COACH Senol Gunes, who led
Turkey to third place at the 2002 World
Cup, returned early in 2019 following the
sacking of Romanian Mircea Lucescu.
The 67-year-old had continued to enjoy
success in Turkey, winning the league title
with Besiktas in 2016 and 2017.

OKEY PLAYERS Outstanding Roma

winger Cengiz Under is the poster boy for

an exciting new generation, along with

Juventus defender Merih Demiral.

Everton striker Cenk Tosun was the top

scorer in qualifying with five goals.

OPLAYER TO WATCH Fortuna

Dusseldorf centre-back Kaan Ayhan

was at the heart of their outstanding

performances in Group H. Indeed, he

was his country’s second-top scorer with

three goals, all of them headers. Notably

made a nuisance of himself in dead-

ball situations against France, on the

scoresheet both home and away.

Ukraine

OHOW THEY QUALIFIED Winners

of Group B, ahead of 2016 European

champions Portugal. Success was based

on a tight defence which conceded only

four goals in an unbeaten eight-match

campaign. A number of youngsters

stepped up to fill the gaps left by the

retirements of Anatoliy Tymoshchuk,

Vyacheslav Shevchuk and Oleh Husyev.

OTHE COACH Andriy Shevchenko was

assistant to Mykhaylo Fomenko at Euro

2016 and succeeded him as head coach

in July 2016.

OKEY PLAYERS West Ham attacker

Andrii Yarmolenko remains Ukraine’s

leading figure, despite recent problems

with injuries. Shakhtar Donetsk centre-

back Mykola Matviienko has provided

much of the defensive solidity, while Man

City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko is used as a

midfielder for his country.

OPLAYER TO WATCH Shevchenko

faces the mother of all selection

dilemmas. Does he plump for the

experience of Yarmolenko on the right

wing or place his faith in the considerable

youthful promise of Dynamo Kiev’s Viktor

Tsyhankov, who scored twice in the 5-0

thrashing of Serbia in Lviv in June?

Wales

OHOW THEY QUALIFIED As

runners-up behind Croatia in Group E

after a late unbeaten run which saw 1-1

draws with both Slovakia and Croatia in

October and 2-0 wins over both

Azerbaijan and Hungary.

OTHE COACH Ryan Giggs has continued

the work of Chris Coleman, guiding Wales

to only their third major finals, after the

1958 World Cup and Euro 2016.

OKEY PLAYERS Gareth Bale is

undeniably Wales’ talisman, especially

when teamed up with Juventus midfielder

Aaron Ramsey, whose absence through

injury was missed early in the campaign.

OPLAYER TO WATCH Manchester

United winger Daniel James can cause all

manner of problems with his searing

pace, directness and total fearlessness,

and his crossing is much improved.

Euro 2020: The Teams

Improved...

Daniel James

Goals...Kaan Ayhan

Decisions...Andriy Shevchenko