When Germany played France last November in a friendly in Paris , there wasn’t an expectation that this friendly  game would be remembered for anything but sporting reasons.As things transpired on that Paris evening  around Stade de France ,long revered as the home of France’s 1998 triumphant comeback in world football, the Euro 2016 became an afterthought.

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However as challenges bring added motivation,  a spring arose after a long european winter  and brought hopes.Preps for the biggest Euro to be staged in  Western Europe’s largest  country took an added incentive.Four new stadiums have been produced in Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux and Nice. Five  other venues including Parc de Princes in Paris and the Velodrome in Marseille have been upgraded. Only Stade de France retains its original state, site of France’s greatest footballing feat in July 1998. A special mention here to the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille which has a unique shiftable  field capacity in order to make a lower level seating capacity for indoor events like basketball or tennis, in addition to the 15 minute retractable roof arrangement.Its called “Boîte à Spectacles”. 

A spectacle for the home crowd will be the performance of the home team as always.1998 gave us Zidane and Henry.Who will be it this time ? Coming of age, Paul Pogba carries the burden of the French nation on this occasion.He won his 4th straight league championship with Juventus earlier this year and largely been crowned as the French Poster boy for the Euro.Hugo Lloris,Dmitri Payet and N’Golo Kante  have had outstanding domestic seasons and with  Antoine Griezmann  and Anthony Martial,they possess a scoring capacity as well. France last won the Euro in 2000 when they were world champions.They open  the Euro in Group A vs Romania on June 10 in Paris. Switzerland and Albania are the other teams in Group A.

The threat to France taking the Euro will always come from the usual suspects. Germany have recruited youth again to complement the world cup winning squad . Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos are all back. Marco Reus who missed the 2014 world cup is fit for this one. And as always , EPL’s assist leader Mesut Ozil , is the lynchpin of their attack.Germany are in Group C,with Ukraine,Northern Ireland and a Polish team that has someone they know very well, Robert Lewandowski.

Spain and Italy won’t have the same punches as they did when they played the final in Kiev in 2012, but in competition play,both have the knack to advance deep.A Xavi less Spain has an average forward line.Iniesta and Fabregas look past their best.David Silva didn’t star much in Epl this year.Lucas Vasquez and the much talked about Saul Niguez are still an unknown quantity.Casillas still skippers and is in goal  despite De Gea s impressive form.  Spain also play in the difficult Group D with Croatia, Turkey and Czech Republic.Sparks will fly.

Italy led by Chelsea bound  Antonio Conte  have similar predicament. Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Montolivo are ageing as is Giorgio Chiellini. The forward line with Ciro Immobile , El Shaarawy , Graziano Pelle and Lorenzo Insigne is inexperienced still. But like Spain their captain also has a wealth of experience  in Gianluigi Buffon now on 156 caps.They will face an opening tough challenges in the group with youthful Belgium, who ranked no 2 in fifa rankings are led by Eden Hazard  and play them on June 13 in the extravagant Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon.Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s  Sweden and a resurgent Ireland also complete in Group E.

In Group F,Portugal look a safe bet behind their skipper and Champions league winner Cristiano Ronaldo.Austria led by Leicester’s championship winning fullback Christian Fuchs are joined by neighbours Hungary who have arrived in major cup since 1986 and Iceland who are the smallest european nation to qualify.

Another recent Champions league winner is Gareth Bale who stars for Wales in Group B as it provides one of the high octane  matches when Wales and England clash on June 16 at Stade Bollaert Delelis. England have plenty of forwards to pick from as Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy are coming off impressive scoring seasons in EPL alongside Marcus Rashford who has had a dream start to his senior career.Dele Alli, Kyle Walker,Danny Rose,Eric Dier have starred for Spurs heavily but the midfield is not as experienced and traditionally England have struggled in the Euro, so a lot to prove still.Russia and Slovakia provide the opposition for two british teams.Marian Hamsik of Napoli is one to watch out for in a Slovakian team captained by Liverpool Martin Skrtel.The Russian squad  have bulk of their squad made up of CSKA and Zenit St Petersburg players.

It has been a long footballing season in Europe.The majority of the leagues finished 3 weeks prior to the opening  game of the tourney, with the domestic cup finale s being staged a week later.And in case of some such as  La Liga in Spain and the Premeira Liga in Portugal, the championship was decided on the final day.It raises the question of  how fit the squads will be,how injuries will be managed and will the best product be displayed. The prize of winning the Euro is an entry to  the Confederations Cup being held in Russia next year as a tuneup for the 2018 World event.

24 teams , 6 groups , a round of 16 making the playoff predictions a bit more complicated than before as 4 best 3rd placed teams will advance with group winners.Marseille hosting a quarter and a semi with the final at St Denis on July 10.How ironic it will be if the same two teams who played that November evening in Paris when France beat Germany 2-0 end up playing 8 months later in the Euro Finale.It promises to be a showcase event.Super Victor can’t get any more excited. Vive la France !