Starts on day 4 of Euro Cup and main dishes do not stop appearing. At 10 am, Ukrainea team of young talents that for many could be the revelation of the Old Continent soccer team competition, faces Rumania. Later, at 1:00 p.m. in Argentina, with the last remaining of its golden generation, Belgium will face Slovakia. And at the end will arrive France, a great cheerleader in recent years of the big tournaments, crossing paths with Austria.
The Ukrainian team, marked by the war that the country suffers after the invasion of Russia two and a half years ago, will begin its journey in the Eurocup against Romania with a mine of talents that threaten to turn its team into the revelation of the tournament : Andriy Lunin (from a great year at Real Madrid), Artem Dovbyk (Atletico Madrid), Viktor Tsygankov (Girona FC), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal) o Mikhailo Mudryk (Chelsea) are some of the names destined to try to make history in Germany.
The team led by Serhiy Rebrov undeniably lives looking askance at the news that comes from its country. In fact, several of their players come from cities that have been destroyed or occupied by Russia. This week, the federation published a video remembering their situation and names like Mykola Shaparenko, Maksym Talovierov, Anatoliy Trubin shaped the history that their conquered or destroyed cities were experiencing.
And, precisely, one of the messages that appears in the video makes it clear that for Ukraine, the Euro Cup is more than a championship: “Our hometowns would love to host the Euro Cup. Right now, they are not fighting for a tournament, but for their freedom.”
Serhiy Rebrov, a former footballer with a great career between 1991 and 2009 (he was part of Dinamo kyiv in which Andriy Shevchenko also stood out), has a large group of players on his hands that combine talent and youth. Almost all of his players are at the age that many think is perfect for playing soccer. And, furthermore, they are in big European clubs, a plus to know the pressure that must be endured in a big tournament like the Euro Cup. That, added to the motivational plus that the moment that his country is experiencing means.
Thus Romania appears as the stone guest. A priori, she is a candidate to go as one of the best third in group E, fighting with Slovakia for that position. Ukraine is one step above and Belgium is the clear favorite to finish in first place.
Belgium, the all-time favorite
One day, Belgium’s coaches and players will no longer be associated with the group that was destined to achieve an international title, and possibly should have achieved it at Euro 2016. But some splinters of that still remain.
Yesterday, at the pre-competition conference, after more than 25 minutes of questions directed at Belgian captain Kevin De Bruyne and coach Domenico Tedesco, the dreaded words echoed through the press room: “Golden Generation.” It’s what the Belgians didn’t want to hear.
“It’s the typical German question about the Golden Generation,” joked Tedesco, an Italian by birth with German citizenship. “I was waiting for her.”
This has been the case for Belgium since the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, with a squad that emerged with Vincent Kompany, Marouane Fellaini and Jan Vertonghen. From there, they were all blows with teams that many considered to be crowned and failed to do so.
2014, De Bruyne, Hazard and company were kicked out of Brazil by Argentina. In Euro 2016 they also marched, this time it was a hit by Wales. IN the 2018 World Cup with France and in Euro 2020 with the champion Italy. In Qatar 2022 they did not even pass the group stage.
The last spark of that generation remains. It will be necessary to see if in this Euro 2024, when there are few who give it as a candidate, she finally turns on and achieves the long-awaited title.
The Belgians have the chance to start on the right foot against Slovakia, a priori, the weakest rival in the group.
France and Mbappé make their debut in the Euro Cup
The French team, coached by Didier Deschamps and led by Real Madrid’s star signing, striker Kylian Mbappé, goes into action this Monday in the European Championship when they face Austria starting at 4:00 p.m. in our country in Dusseldorf.
The die seems to have been cast in advance at the crossing between Austria and France. So much so that the French coach, Didier Deschamps, had to remind journalists that this Monday “we have a game”, in a conference where everything was discussed (the signing of Mbappé with Real, the Olympic Games, the right in the elections of France) less than the Euro Cup crossing.
When the holiday afternoon begins to fall in Argentina, France will have finished its debut against Austria. And we will see if she is a candidate, as (almost) always in recent years.