Is this the best start to a EUROs ever??

I think it could be!!

Good Morning Ladies and Gents,

Sorry this article is late, it was due last night but I had a power cut and was unable to publish it!

The start to this years European Championships has been extraordinary, there has been some excellent games, outrageous finishes and lots of surprises and we are only 5 days in!!

The quality is actually on a really decent level this year and even the lower ranked sides have put in good performances and a good fight.

After Matchday 1 my predictions are almost the same as before the tournament. I see a Germany v England/Portugal final. My dark horses were Spain (the best team I’ve seen so far). I still honestly believe the biggest underachievers will be France, I see them going out in the round of 16 or the quarter finals! Belgium and Croatia were due bad tournaments in my opinion and I think they may both squeeze through the group stages and be knocked out very early in the knockout phases.

Even with an early exit for France I still see Antoine Griezmann being one of the favourites for player of the tournament, alongside Jamal Musiala and Jude Bellingham. The golden boot will be one by Harry Kane or Cristiano Ronaldo.

I’ve predicted Portugal to get to the semi final/final prior to the tournament and still think they will grind their way there but I think they were pretty poor against Czech Republic.

The best game so far in my opinion was the Turkey/Georgia game, what a game that was, it had absolutely everything and was one of those games on paper that some people would have avoided as it doesn’t sound as appealing as some other games. That is the game that has kept me the most entertained so far!

Tomorrow evening is Englands 2nd group game and to be quite frank and honest I would take another scrappy 1-0 win, I would take 7 of the exact games from Sunday if it means we win the tournament. In my opinion you don’t have to be the best team to win the tournament, you have to battle, be able to grind out games and win when not playing well, whilst also keeping clean sheets or at least defending well.

Thank you all for reading.

Luke Rushbrook