With just under three months to go until German Euro Cup (from June 14 to July 14) and after the international friendlies played in March, the last before the final calls, at what point are the European powers contending for the continental title?
SPAIN
As usual in recent years, Spain has once again shown two faces, although the matches against Colombia (1-0 defeat) and Brazil (3-3) must have confirmed coach Luis de la Fuente in his commitment to the type of game of the Red.
Against the Seleçao, the youngsters Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams showed that they should be the wingers that they carry the danger on the wings, supported by the mobility and effectiveness of Dani Olmo in the midfield, without forgetting Rodri as the cornerstone on which the entire system is based.
The doubts offered by the champion of the last Nations League are fundamentally two. The first is whether young people like Yamal (16 years old), Pau Cubarsí (17) or Williams (21) will be able to assume a leadership role in the team; The second refers to the center forward position.
Captain Álvaro Morata does not look like the effective player of the first part of the season and the players called to substitute, such as Mikel Oyarzabal, Gerard Moreno or Joselu have not quite taken the step forward to become the starting ‘9’.
FRANCE
The world runner-up ended the March window with more doubts than certainties, after two friendlies in front of their fans in which they lost 2-0 against Germany and suffered to win 3-2 against Chile.
But the lackluster play, the physical form and, above all, the defensive fragility were worrying.
“To perform well in June, we will have to do much more“, admitted coach Didier Deschamps on Tuesday, who also said he was aware that some players are at this point in the season thinking more about the final stretch of the season with their clubs than about a European Championship that some still see as distant, like a point. small on the horizon.
Kylian Mbappé’s game on Tuesday against the Chileans was symbolic in that aspect. At times he seemed listless and the boos received from local fans in a Velodrome stadium in Marseille did not help motivate him, where the French star will play again this week, on Sunday in the Clásico, then wearing the Paris Saint-Germain shirt.
ENGLAND
Jude Bellingham saved England from a double defeat at Wembley. The Real Madrid star managed to score in the 90+5 for his team to draw 2-2 on Tuesday against Belgium at the London Coliseum, where a few days before Brazil had won 1-0.
The two friendlies scheduled by England were against high-level teams and the balance was not positive, so the current runners-up of the Euro Cup did not exactly reinforce their confidence.
A mitigating factor? Injuries had severely punished Gareth Southgate, who was deprived of these matches due to injuries to several figures, including his captain Harry Kane and his partner in attack Bukayo Saka.
“The best thing is that some players have taken advantage of this opportunity, that can give us more depth” from the bench, said Southgate, who tried several youngsters, including the promising Koobie Mainoo (18 years old, Manchester United).
GERMANY
If there is one team that has come out stronger in this window, it has been precisely the host of the tournament. The Mannschaft experienced its particular ‘annus horribilis’ in 2013 (with only three wins in eleven games), which cost Hansi Flick his job.
But the arrival of Julian Nagelsmann to the bench and, above all, the return of Toni Kroos after almost three years of absence by decision of the Real Madrid midfielder himself, seem to have restored enthusiasm to the entire country.
Germany has achieved two prestigious victories against two other powers (2-0 against France and 2-1 against the Netherlands) and, more importantly, Nagelsmann seems to have found the formula to successfully mix seniority (Kroos, Gündogan, Rüdiger, Kimmich , Müller) with youth or inexperience (Musiala, Wirtz, Koch, Mittlestadt, Führlich).
After these good results, will Nagelsmann continue without calling up key players such as Goretzka, Gnabry, Emre Can, Hummels or Sané?
PORTUGAL
Roberto Martínez’s Portugal is not invincible. After eleven wins in eleven games since the Spaniard took the reins of the Portuguese Seleçao after the 2022 World Cup, with a perfect qualification campaign for the Euro Cup, the defeat came on Tuesday in Slovenia (2-0).
A few days before, Portugal had won another friendly although against a team not qualified for the Euro Cup, Sweden (5-2).
“The objective of tonight was not to win, it was to test“, Martínez stated in statements to Portuguese public television (RTP) after losing to the Slovenians. “After these ninety minutes, we are more prepared for the Euro Cup,” he assured.
Cristiano Ronaldo (39 years old) was not against the Swedes, but yes in the defeat of Ljubljana. He was hardly in danger and his real condition is one of Portugal’s unknowns ahead of the continental event.
ITALIA
The current European champion settled the double confrontation in March with two victories on their tour of the United States: 2-1 against Venezuela and 2-0 against Ecuador.
It is true that the Nazionale will have much greater rivals in the Euro Cup (starting with Spain, Croatia and Albania in the first phase), but the balance should instill confidence in a team that has experienced great disappointments in recent years, such as its absence in the last two World Cups.
The ‘Argentine’ Mateo Retegui (author of a double against Vinotinto) leads a generation (Zaniolo, Raspadori, Cambiaso, Scalvini) that coach Luciano Spalletti tries to mix with the survivors of the title from three years ago (Donnarumma, Jorginho, Barella , Chiesa, Di Lorenzo).
NETHERLANDS
Surely it will not enter the group of big favorites for the continental title right away, but we must always count on the Netherlands, which beat Scotland 4-0 last Friday and lost in extremis against Germany on Tuesday (2-1).
Ronald Koeman has barely made any changes to the team that, led by Louis van Gaal, was eliminated on penalties by Argentina in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar.
Surely the great contribution of the former Barcelona player has been giving the keys to the team to Xavi Simmons, who at almost 21 years old is beginning to demonstrate the expectations he generated when he belonged to the Barça academy.
To support the Leipzig midfielder, Koeman continues to rely on the old guard, with a very experienced defense (Van Dijk, Aké, De Ligt, Dumphries) and always decisive forwards (Memphis, Gakpo and Weghorst), without forgetting that Frenkie de Jong He missed these games due to injury, but he will be a fixture in the midfield for the Euro Cup.
BELGIUM
In the case of the Belgian ‘Red Devils’, the matches this March left a trace of bitterness.
Seeing a prestigious victory at Wembley slip away in final stoppage time was a wasted historic opportunity and the other friendly, a few days before, had been a sad 0-0 draw in Ireland.
The fourth country in the FIFA ranking will need an added bonus to respond well in the Euro Cup and make its fans forgive its horrible 2022 World Cup, marked by internal disputes and an elimination in the group stage, which precipitated the departure of coach Roberto Martínez and his replacement by the Italian-German Domenico Tedesco.
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