Thansk Rob. And I’ll start with some good news for Wales. Robert Page has confirmed that Aaron Ramsey is available for selection against Switzerland on Saturday. Ramsey sat out yesterday’s training session but will be involved at Baku’s Olympic Stadium.
Ramsay doing tricks and stuff in Friday training. Photograph: Naomi Baker/Reuters
Ramsey has played in just 19 of Wales’ 44 games since Euro 2016. Here’s Page on nursing the Juventus midfielder back to fitness:
We are sat here with 26 players fully fit and raring to go and Aaron falls into that category. We had a plan in place when I spoke to him a month ago about how many minutes we needed to achieve with one eye on Switzerland.
The build-up has gone really well, the medical team have got to take an enormous amount of credit for that.
I’m away to the doctors for a blood test, so I’ll hand you back to David Tindall for the next hour or so. Ta-ra!
Here are 24 reasons to be excited about the Euros
From the archive (4)
When asked for a rundown of Scotland’s strengths before the tournament, Franz Beckenbauer replied: “None visible.”
A reminder of this weekend’s fixtures (all kick-off times BST)
Friday
Turkey v Italy (Group A, 8pm)
Saturday
Wales v Switzerland (Group A, 2pm)
Denmark v Finland (Group B, 5pm)
Belgium v Russia (Group B, 8pm)
Sunday
England v Croatia (Group D, 2pm)
Austria v North Macedonia (Group C, 5pm)
Netherlands v Ukraine (Group C, 8pm)
On this day in 2000, Jaap Stam didn’t flinch.
On this day in 1996, Croatia scored a late winner to beat Turkey at the City Ground. The reverse pass from Aljosa Asanovic is a beauty.
If you want to relive Euro 96, you can’t, it’s gone, you’re not young any more. But you can read all about it in Mike Gibbons’ book When Football Came Home, which is superbly written and full of the richest detail.
You can follow the race for the Golden Boot with our funky* interactive
* At the moment it isn’t particularly funky, because nobody has scored a goal
Another plug for Jonathan Liew’s tournament preview
This is an interesting piece. I didn’t realise it was perceived as a humiliation, as Morocco were a bloody good side who would have gone through to the knockout stages but for Norway beating Brazil.
“Erthygl hyfryd gan Elis James,” says Matt Dony. “Surprisingly moving, too. Obviously, the Euros has hung over the end of the season, and I knew it was coming, and I was vaguely looking forward to it, but it always felt kind of distant. I’m suddenly hugely, unabashedly excited. The summer of 2016 was a massive highlight in my football life. But, I’m also aware that part of the magic was that everything was new and unexpected. This time around, it’s going to be an anticlimax, isn’t it? The group is horrible. There would be no shame in exiting at the group stage, but it will feel like a failure compared to last time. Sometimes, you wait a long time for a follow up, and it’s brilliant. Tool took 13 years to release Fear Inoculum, and it was magnificent. On the other hand, Chinese Democracy. Oh dear.”
Matt isn’t lying about the impact of 2016. I have fond memories of his increasingly, erm, unfettered emails during that semi-final against Portugal.
Ted Lasso intrigues me, because it looks hideous but has had consistently brilliant reviews. If I ever conquer my Premier League Years addiction, I’ll give it a try.
This is an interesting and slightly heartbreaking profile of João Cancelo, who is likely to play at full-back for Portugal.
Then and now
Mick Martin, Bryan Robson, Ron Atkinson and Alistair Brown - Heathrow Airport, London
West Bromwich Albion’s (L-R) Mick Martin, Bryan Robson, manager Ron Atkinson and Alistair Brown at Heathrow Airport, London, after an end of season tour to China. Photograph: PA
From the archive (3)
The Ladislav Jurkemik goal is a personal favourite, one of the great thunderbarstewards.
IT’S ONLY JOLLY WELL COMING HOME!
Yep, the Fiver is getting giddy, ish.
What’s the best football film you’ve seen?
No, Clive, Premier League Years 1994-95 doesn’t count as a film.
Predictions department
It’s such a personal thing. I would go for 2000 as well, though 1976 packed an astonishing amount into four games. You can make an extremely good case for 1984 as well.
From the archive (2)
The Sun has maintained a jingoistic approach, rather than a xenophobic one
Elis James will be writing for us throughout the tournament (and if you haven’t seen his Football Nation series, you should, as it’s exceedingly good). Here he is on the joy and camaraderie of watching Wales overseas, some of which even involves the football.
From the archive
I’ll add another one: Zinedine Zidane against Portugal in 2000, a semi-pornographic demonstration of his otherwordly skill and balance. It’s Friday, treat yourself.
Here’s our Experts’ Network feature on the defending champions Portugal, an intriguing mix of galacticos, geriatricos and Wolverhampton Wanderers players.
Thanks David, hello everyone. Let’s start with the big calls facing Gareth Southgate ahead of England’s game on Sunday. Since you asked, my XI would be Pickford; James, Stones, Lordknows, Chilwell; Phillips, Rice; Sancho, Mount, Grealish; Kane.
Time to pass the Euro 2020 baton to Rob Smyth, who’ll be keeping you informed and entertained for the next few hours.
A simple question: which Euros was the best? I’d personally go Euro 96 (a combination of being in my carefree 20s and England doing well) although 1984 when John Motson got very, very excited (Tigana... Tigana... Platini... GOAL!!!) in a more natural way then he does now was a belter too.
Guardian readers reminisce here in this feature by Paul Campbell.
Gareth Bale, looking uncannily like a Cyberman from Doctor Who (hence the robotic answers), has been speaking this morning on the eve of Wales’s Euro 2020 opener against Switzerland on Saturday afternoon. Italy and Turkey get the Group A action in play this evening.
Bale speaks to the press. Photograph: UEFA/Getty Images
The Wales skipper is one of eight survivors from the 2016 team that memorably beat Belgium in the last eight before losing to Portugal in the semis.
It’s similar (to Euro 2016) coming into the tournament. On the back of 2016 there should be expectations, but it’s a different team and a different tournament.
We know it’s a difficult group to get out of. They are all difficult teams to play against, but we’ve got to take one game at a time. We are very excited to be here and one day away. I feel fine and ready to give 100 per cent for my country, as I always do.
Turkey are being billed as a side that could score plenty of goals but concede their fair share too. However, it’s a stretch to think that their game against Italy this evening will come close to matching this one.
Richard Foster for The Football Mine takes us back in time.
Germany currently out on the training pitch in Herzogenaurach (a couple of hours from Munich) and Champions League final hero Kai Havertz is getting a birthday hug from manager Joachim Löw. Havertz is the grand old age of 22.
Joachim Löw and Kai Havertz. Photograph: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Can Germany make a big impression on these finals? Here’s our team guide:
There’s something very pleasing about comparing stadiums at a major football tournament. My own fetish probably started with Panini stickers. Sometimes they came as two-parters, meaning great care and attention was needed when joining one half to the other.
We have 11 to peruse this time and Barry Glendenning and Paul Bellsham have put together this lovely guide:
For those who like perfect symmetry, Turkey and Italy’s only previous meeting in a major tournament was on this very day in Euro 2000.
Italy won 2-1 courtesy of goals from some guy called Antonio Conte (huh, whatever happened to him?) and a penalty from Filippo Inzaghi. Okan Buruk scored for Turkey.
Our MBMs weren’t quite as sophisticated back then.
If I’ve filled in my When Saturday Comes Euro 2020 wallchart correctly, I’m getting a France v Belgium final.
Ten voted for France to win, with Italy and Belgium managing a single vote.
As for beaten finalists, Portugal and Italy polled three votes apiece, Spain and the Netherlands two and France and Turkey one.
No mentions of England there! I’ll leave you to add up the Golden Boot predictions before your weekly reminder on the Guardian Football podcast of the time when Barry tipped Christian Benteke to be top scorer when he wasn’t even in the Belgian squad.
Talk of that 1988 Dutch team a couple of posts earlier inevitably leads us to that volley from Marco van Basten. The eye is obviously drawn to the goalscorer but an underrated part of this clip is the comic drunken stumble of Soviet goalkeeper Rinat Dasayev as the ball nestles in the back of the net.
I know Gregg’s already mentioned it but I’ll give the magnificent Euro 2020 interactive guide another shout out.
Having been born in Whitehaven myself, this Dean Henderson snippet is a personal favourite:
Like the former Liverpool and West Brom keeper Scott Carson, Henderson was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria, and his first steps in sport came at a local rugby league club, Kells. In the 2001 census, taken when Henderson was four and Carson 15, the town’s population was 24,054 – so approximately one in every 2,056 people in England lived there. Since 2001 one in every seven people to debut in goal for England has been from Whitehaven.
It’s important for any team with trophy aspirations to get off to a fast start, right? That’s the ideal but it’s not everything as Danish attacker Pernille Harder points out here. She has first-hand experience having lost to the Netherlands in the groups stages of the Euros in 2017 before going on to reach the final.
Off the top of my head I can think of another couple of examples: the Netherlands lost their opening group game to Russia in Euro 1988 but later beat them in the final and Spain lifted the World Cup trophy in 2010 despite suffering a shock 1-0 defeat in their first match against Switzerland.
Hello! David Tindall here. In the spirit of the Euros, we’re moving the blog around different locations so I’ll take over from Gregg for a few hours.
The Scotland team faced heavy criticism overnight following its decision not to take the knee during the Euro 2020 championship, in contrast to England’s determination to keep kneeling. Campaigning lawyer Aamer Anwar described the decision as “pathetic”, and called on the Scottish FA to explain how it can unite against racism “when you do the opposite?”
The move was also condemned by politicians. Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s deputy leader at Westminster, said: “This is a mistake. Not taking the knee sends a really disappointing message from our national team.|
Newly elected Scottish Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said: “Standing is not an act of solidarity in any credible sense. It will actually communicate a problematic message on an international stage, especially in contrast to the moral courage shown by young black players in the England squad. I hope the Scotland squad will reconsider this”.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s huge and often injured calf muscles have prevented the Liverpool forward from gaining much momentum going into the tournament. But he is aiming to do big things with in-form Switzerland and says he has “a secret” target for Euro 2020. Here’s Andy Hunter on the threat the “Power Cube” still poses to Wales’s hopes when they meet in Baku tomorrow.
England’s buildup has been overshadowed by the booing of players taking a knee at Middlesbrough and the political discussion that has followed it, with Boris Johnson refusing to condemn the fans’ actions. The former prime minister Gordon Brown has spoken to the BBC’s Nick Robinson this morning and told the UK government to support the England team’s decision to take the knee before matches and stop fighting culture wars over “unimportant” gestures.
I would like Boris Johnson to come out publicly and support the England football team and what they do.
Here’s the story, in which Brown also says the government was wrong not to immediately throw its support behind Marcus Rashford’s campaign to tackle child food poverty.
I haven’t mentioned England yet. So here goes. After some underwhelming warm-up games, how will they fare with Harry Maguire likely to miss at least two group games and both Jordan Henderson and Jack Grealish struggling for fitness? Personally, I think they may run into trouble in the last 16 but they still have a very talented group of young attack-minded players. One of them is Bukayo Saka, Arsenal’s only England representative at the Euros. He explains here how he got his “little chilli” nickname.
And here’s the latest on Maguire’s battle to get fit:
The Guardian’s Rome correspondent, Angela Giuffrida, has been talking to locals to get their views on how they feel as Euro 2020 kicks off in their back yard. It’s fair to say excitement is hardly at fever pitch. Here’s the opinion of Marco Martinelli, a restaurant owner.
The atmosphere is a little sad. You don’t have all the fervour that you would usually get before such a tournament … I don’t feel the excitement yet.
I know a lot about North Macedonia’s creative spark, Eljif Elmas. For instance, he used to work in his father’s sweet shop in Skopje. How do I know such vital information? Because I’ve read and digested this complete guide to all 622 players at Euro 2020. There’s still time for you to do the same too.
Good morning! So, just the 364 days after it was supposed to start, Euro 2020 is upon us. Have you got that Big Tournament buzz, yet? The first match kicks off in Rome tonight at 8pm (BST), where 16,000 fans at the Stadio Olimpico will watch Italy take on Turkey in Group A. That’s just a quarter of the grand old stadium’s capacity and a sign of these Covid times. Jonathan Liew is in Rome to report on that one and he’s written this scene-setter before the big kick-off.
We’ll be bringing you all the buildup and latest news, plus a selection of some of this site’s best previews, as the tournament nears through the day. We’ll also keep you updated on any major news elsewhere in the world of football, too. Anyway, let’s get down to the brass tacks: who is going to win the tournament, then? I reckon Germany might surprise a few doubters but what do I know? Our writers offer their predictions on who might win the tournament and more, here.
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