UEFA Euro 2016 Previews - Group A

By Mikey Godsmark, Deputy Chief Writer
In a time of increased threat from ISIS and anti-Europe feeling from Brexit, the Euros have arrived at a perfect time. The tournament has been expanded to 24 teams and all home nations but Scotland have qualified. As hopes of England ending a 50 year wait for a trophy rise, starting with Group A Mikey Godsmark previews what is to come over the next month.

Team by Team

France 
Hosts France start off as clear favourites for top spot in Group A. A new innovation from UEFA saw France take part in Group I of qualifying with their matches counting as friendlies, however this ensured competitive football in the years running up to the tournament which is often lacking for host nations. France lost just once in these friendlies which included to defeats of Portugal. Raphael Varane played every game in the friendlies but will miss out due to injury with Mangala and Koiscielny the likely starting centre back paring. Ngolo Kante has made the squad and should start against Romania. Giroud and Griezmann will provide the bulk of France’s goalscoring ability with Benzema missing out after the blackmailing scandal. With home advantage France could go all the way.

Manager Didier Deschamps is blessed with fantastic players and a home crowd, but can he repeat the 1998 World Cup success for Les Bleus?

Prediction: Will cruise through group before going on to be crowned Champions on home soil

Romania

Romania progressed through a very easy group to qualify and did so on the back of impressive away form as they were undefeated on the road for the entire group stage. Romania’s squad is solid if unspectacular and their qualifying was based on strong defensive form with them conceding just twice throughout the group stage in a campagain that featured five draws. The centre back pairing of former Tottenham defender Vlad Chiriches and Dragos Grigore were the backbone of the team and  both are fit to start. The main concern for Romania is goals. They scored just eleven times in their ten qualifying games with nobody scoring in more than one game. Florin Andone will probably lead the line after banging in 20 goals for Córdoba this season. If Romania can get themselves ahead in any games, they will be extremely tough to break down.

Prediction: Losing to France and drawing to Albania and Switzerland, Romania should come third but are unlikely to progress.

Romania take on hosts France in the opening game

Switzerland

Switzerland progressed though their group by beating the easy sides. Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino all posed no threat to the Swiss but they lost twice to England and we're lucky to only lose once against Slovenia. Switzerland showed a lot of resilience in their qualifying campaign scoring ten goals beyond the 80^th minute and only losing half the games they fell behind in. On paper a good squad but they lacked consistency, with not a single player starting every qualifying game. They're still a team with bags of quality with Stoke’s Shaqiri top scoring in qualifying. Yano Sommer in goal can be relied on after a good season with Hamburg. After captain Gorkan Inler was dropped due to a lack of minutes for Leicester Stephan Lichtsteiner will take the armband. The golden generation of Swiss football needs to start living up to its potential before it’s too late.

Prediction: Second in group, out in last 16

Albania

Albania are one of five debutants and Euro 2016 and will hope to cause the same upsets that got them here. Qualifying over Armenia, Denmark and most dramatically rivals Serbia, Albania kept a clean sheet in all five of their away qualifiers with experienced veteran Lorik Cana proving a formidable obstacle. Like Romania goals are a concern with nobody scoring more than once in qualifying. Throughout the whole squad there are only 25 goals for Albania, Switzerland in comparison have 70. Sokol Cikallsehi will probably play as the lone striker despite failing to find the net in all seven of his qualifying appearances. The lack of tournament experience might well cost the Albanians here.

Prediction: Rock bottom finish, Romania best chance of a win.

The Eastern European Side have a strong fan base

The Key Match

France v Switzerland, June 19^th, 8PM, ITV.  This is likely to decide the group winners especially as it's the last round of the group, if Switzerland have struggled up to this point it could be the difference between 2^nd and 3^rd for them.

Can Xherdan Shaqiri and his Switzerland side cause a huge upset?

One to Watch
France and West Ham’s Dmitri Payet has had a great season so far and West Ham but has often failed to produce in big games. In tournament football every game is huge, especially as host nation. Will Payet have the mentality to produce when it matters most?

Will the French Fans appreciate Payet as much as the Hammers supporters do?

You can read Mikey's report of tonight's opener between France and Romania here tomorrow