European superstars will take centre stage as the high 24 nations conflict in the postponed 2020 Euro.
The likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and France’s Kylian Mbappe or Karim Benzema, Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, England’s Harry Kane, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, Italy’s Ciro Immobile, Germany’s Thomas Muller or Timo Werner, Netherlands’ Memphis Depay, Austria’s Marko Arnautovic or Finland’s Teemu Pukki, could be the stars to be careful for.
Here are the gamers to look out at EUROS –
FRANCE
Antoine Griezmann (86 caps, 33 objectives)
The Barcelona ahead is the chief of Les Bleus’ attacking line. More than only a striker, although, Griezmann’s versatility means he contributes creativity as a lot as objectives. He was named Player of the Tournament at EURO 2016 regardless of France’s loss to Portugal in the remaining. He is now keen to go one higher at Wembley.
Kylian Mbappe (43 caps, 17 objectives)
The Paris ahead is happier the higher the opposition. In between tournaments, France have a tendency to tackle sides who sit again and pack the defence and midfield, making it laborious for Mbappé to use his strengths. Better sides attempt to play extra and that’s when Mbappé springs into life, deadly on the break.
PORTUGAL
Cristiano Ronaldo (170 caps, 102 objectives)
Europe’s all-time most-capped participant and high worldwide scorer, the No7 is Portugal’s captain and chief – and he stays as deadly as ever at 36. The main scorer in EURO qualifiers can be the finals’ joint-top marksman (sharing that nine-goal report with Michel Platini). He will need to make the report his personal at EURO 2020.
Bruno Fernandes (25 caps, 2 objectives)
After rising at Sporting CP, the energetic attacking midfielder has moved up to a brand new stage since signing for Manchester United. With a strong, correct shot from distance, and a willingness to create, he was straight concerned in 53 objectives in his first 61 video games for the Red Devils. No shock that he continues to develop in stature for the nationwide workforce.
GERMANY
Manuel Neuer (96 caps)
The 34-year-old goalkeeper reached high type once more in 2020, and was instrumental as Bayern received the UEFA Champions League. Neuer is Germany’s captain and sometimes acts as their unofficial sweeper as nicely.
Thomas Muller (101 caps, 38 objectives)
Two-and-a-half years after being lower to make room for a rebuild, Germany have recalled Muller, a vocal chief with huge expertise at main tournaments. The 31-year-old by no means fails to transmit his successful mentality to his team-mates.
HUNGARY
Peter Gulacsi (36 caps)
The Leipzig goalkeeper grew to become the first Hungarian to seem in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2019-20. A two-times Austrian Bundesliga winner with Salzburg, he has been named Hungary’s Player of the Year on three events.
WALES
Gareth Bale (90 caps, 33 objectives)
The all-time main goalscorer for Wales, Bale has been the talismanic determine of this workforce for over a decade. Now 31, his expertise in this younger squad proved to be invaluable all through qualifying, whereas his undoubted capability mixed together with his dedication and keenness for representing his nation make him a formidable opponent.
SLOVAKIA
Marek Hamsík (126 caps, 26 objectives)
Slovakia’s most-capped worldwide and all-time high scorer stays their most essential participant. Now 33, the midfielder made his senior debut in February 2007 and captained Slovakia for the first time at 21. He was his nation’s predominant marksman throughout that trail-blazing EURO 2016 qualifying marketing campaign with 5 objectives.
POLAND
Robert Lewandowski (116 caps and 63 objectives)
Poland’s high worldwide scorer and most-capped participant of all time, Lewandowski can be workforce captain. Widely thought-about as his nation’s biggest ever participant, the 32-year-old Bayern striker has been the fulcrum of this workforce for some years.
SWEDEN
Emil Forsberg (57 caps, 8 objectives)
The attacking midfielder usually operates from the left wing and is one in every of Sweden’s main set-piece specialists. He has been with Leipzig since 2015, a key a part of the workforce’s journey from the German second tier to final season’s UEFA Champions League remaining 4.
SPAIN
Sergio Busquets (122 caps, 2 objectives)
The midfield metronome has been a mainstay of La Roja sides since making his debut in 2009 and was a key piece of the jigsaw for their EURO 2012 triumph. With Sergio Ramos lacking out by way of harm, the Barcelona man is Spain’s most skilled participant and his calm presence in midfield can be key for their hopes of glory.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Tomas Soucek (30 caps, 4 objectives)
The beating coronary heart of the Czech midfield who redefines what it means to have “good toes for a giant man”. Czech Player of the Season in 2018/19 as Slavia Praha won the title, and voted the nation’s best player by journalists in 2020, he is providing pace and energy in an impressive West Ham United outfit.
CROATIA
Luka Modric (133 caps, 16 goals)
Croatia’s captain, leader and perhaps their greatest player yet, Modric could be preparing for his last EURO. The 35-year-old midfield genius made his international debut in March 2006, and inspired his side to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final in Russia.
SCOTLAND
John McGinn (29 caps, 7 goals)
Whether it’s snapping into tackles, providing killer passes or popping up with important goals, McGinn sets the tempo and is the beating heart of the Scottish midfield.
ENGLAND
Harry Kane (51 caps, 32 goals)
England’s captain and primary source of goals, Kane is a talismanic figure for Gareth Southgate’s side. As deadly as ever in front of goal, the Tottenham striker continues to be the focal point of an England attack full of youthful exuberance.
Raheem Sterling (58 caps, 13 goals)
The Manchester City forward has benefited hugely from the tutelage of Josep Guardiola, improving his movement off the ball while adding composure in front of goal to his considerable threat when running at the opposition.
NORTH MACEDONIA
Goran Pandev (114 caps, 36 goals)
North Macedonia’s captain scored the play-off final winner against Georgia to cement his status as a national hero. A team leader as well as a creative and hard-working left-footed forward, the 37-year-old has great technique and can create goals as well as score them. The Genoa man is both his country’s most-capped player and their all-time leading marksman.
AUSTRIA
David Alaba (76 caps, 14 goals)
Playing in a more attacking role than he does for Bayern, Alaba has shown coach Foda his versatility many times; his top-level experience is huge for Austria.
UKRAINE
Andriy Yarmolenko (92 caps, 38 goals)
Ukraine’s leading active scorer (only Andriy Shevchenko, on 48, is ahead in the all-time standings), Yarmolenko remains his side’s main creative threat despite being short on first-team football at West Ham.
NETHERLANDS
Memphis Depay (54 caps, 19 goals)
Time and time again the Lyon striker has been decisive for the Oranje with goals and assists. He doesn’t always make the obvious choice or favour the easiest option, but there’s no doubt that the Dutch attack is vastly more effective when he’s part of it.
Georginio Wijnaldum (62 caps, 15 goals)
Liverpool’s midfield powerhouse brings elegance, steel, drive and craft to the Dutch engine room. In particular, his almost telepathic understanding with Memphis has yielded great success for the national side.
RUSSIA
Artem Dzyuba (47 caps, 26 goals)
The towering striker had to wait until he turned 27 to become a regular for Russia. Soon after the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where Dzyuba scored three goals and helped the team qualify for the quarter-finals, he inherited the captain’s armband from Igor Akinfeev following the latter’s international retirement. Now 32, the Zenit forward is still leading Russia’s attack in terms of goals, assists and link-up play.
BELGIUM
Kevin De Bruyne (78 caps, 20 goals)
Arguably one of the best players on the planet right now. The stats don’t lie, and Belgium have won 57 of the 78 games De Bruyne has figured in. He has assisted 37 goals, in addition to the 20 he has scored himself in that time.
Romelu Lukaku (89 caps, 57 goals)
Belgium’s all-time top scorer – a record that should stand for a generation or more. He has the ability and physical presence to cause problems to any defence, and might just be the man to win Belgium a title.
FINLAND
Teemu Pukki (87 caps, 27 goals)
Pukki is the player that Finland fans expect to deliver when goals are needed; so often he is able to answer the call. The Norwich City striker, now in his 30s, has developed into more than just a goalscorer and is now a fundamental cog in his country’s attacking play.
DENMARK
Christian Eriksen (103 caps, 36 goals)
Denmark’s creative focal point. Eriksen will only be 29 by the time EURO rolls around but already has more than a century of caps and a whole lot of international experience. He’ll remain vital to Kasper Hjulmand’s plans regardless of any shortage of playing time at club level.
Kasper Schmeichel (60 caps)
Denmark’s long-time goalkeeper has shown himself to have broad enough shoulders to assume his father’s considerable legacy. He is a commanding figure and a world-class keeper who ensures the Danes are always hard to beat when between the posts.
SWITZERLAND
Granit Xhaka (89 caps, 12 goals)
Switzerland’s captain is the brains and the engine in midfield. The 28-year-old, who came through the Basel youth ranks, has been at Arsenal since 2016. A member of the Switzerland team that won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2009 and part of the squad that finished runners-up at the Under-21 EURO two years later, he already has three senior major tournaments under his belt.
ITALY
Gianluigi Donnarumma (22 caps)
Filling the huge void left by Gianluigi Buffon was never going to be easy for anybody, but the young AC Milan goalkeeper has already proved that Italy are again in safe hands. A veteran at 21, Donnarumma is already a seasoned international, has kept a clean sheet in half his caps and has never conceded more than one goal. A giant between the posts, he has also markedly improved with his feet and command of his defence.
Nicolo Barella (18 caps, 4 goals)
Roberto Mancini prefers a possession-based brand of football; so far, his decision to use a midfield trio of relatively small but technically gifted players has paid off. Jorginho and Marco Verratti are key cogs in this sense, but Barella has developed into a complete modern midfielder who brings energy, educated feet and timely runs into the opposition box. He has become almost irreplaceable in Mancini’s starting XI.
TURKEY
Cengiz Under (26 caps, 8 goals)
On target in the 2-0 win against France during the European Qualifiers, the Leicester City winger missed much of the campaign through injury – and his pace and technique were greatly missed. Yet he remains a real creative presence and will be hungry to shine at the finals.
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