Thanks to everyone for your contributions. When I started this morning I thought we might end up discussing how to win the tournament but tenors and beer drinking Finnish goalkeepers have been a pleasant surprise.
Right, we are coming to an end on the Euros buildup blog. For more action and less conjecture you can join Scott Murray as he brings you live updates from Wales v Switzerland.
If you have not had a chance to read Jonathan Liew’s excellent piece this morning on what it means to be an England fan in these times of division, I sincerely suggest that you do. It is a fabulous piece of writing that not only completely nails the point but also gives me optimism that the England team’s defiance in the face of hatred might not be in vain.
I want to meet Lukas Hradecky even more after Kári Tulinius’ email:
Hradecky is among football’s most charming interviewees, and has even been known to buy his interviewers beer. He’s such great company that BBC World Service’s World Football show released a special extended version of his interview with national treasure Mani Djazmi.
I feel like I may not have paid much attention to Russia in this morning’s blog, which could be an oversight. Diving into Gosha Chernov’s team guide, there is a great nugget about head coach Stanislav ‘Stan’ Cherchesov:
He is often very curt in interviews and his favourite phrase is “we don’t have [a word] in our dictionary”. He refuses to answer questions with the word “problem” in them; he calls them “difficulties”. For the same reason there are no “friendlies” and no “mistakes”. There are more than 20 words that Cherchesov doesn’t like.
Maybe he is not a ‘Stan’ after all.
Updated
Roger Kirkby is upping the ante in the opera stakes. He emails in:
Why only have one opera singer when you can have thousands? This should get the Welsh party started.
Whilst we are on the subject, after Charles Antaki’s comment (10.14), it is also probably worth clarifying that Andrea Bocelli often wears sunglasses as he was born with congenital glaucoma. He lost his sight completely when he was 12 following a football accident.
Updated
Perhaps better known among fantasy football players, Lukas Hradecky is a cult hero waiting to happen. In 2018, the Finnish goalkeeper celebrated a friendly win over Belarus by grabbing a full pint off a fan behind the goal and necking it.
He later repaid the fan whose pint he nabbed:
Tilit ja tuopit tasattu. 🍻#huuhkajat pic.twitter.com/wKzAEQgJ02
— Lukas Hradecky (@HradeckyLukas) June 25, 2018
If you need any extra reason to root for the minnows this afternoon, maybe Hradecky can be it?
Want some handy Danish phrases for this afternoon?
Man skulle ikke tro, du får penge for det dér!
It’s hard to believe they make a living out of playing football.
Han kunne ikke engang komme på mit old-boys hold!
He couldn’t even get in my old boys’ team (After a big miss or a simple mistake.)
Den kunne min bedstemor også have scoret på...
Even my granny could have scored that…
More of that kind of thing in Jesper Engmann’s Danish team guide:
This is a great question:
Looking back at the winning team from the five most recent editions of the Euros it is difficult to pick a trait that applies across all of them, defensive solidity is perhaps the closest?
2000: France
2004: Greece
2008: Spain
2012: Spain
2016: Portugal
Max Kern, a member of the Guardian’s Euro 2020 Experts’ Network, has the lowdown on Wales’ opponents in Baku today. A few familiar faces from the Premier League, such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabian Schär and Granit Xhaka, but injury concerns, as well as uncertainties in defence, could hamper their chances.
Updated
Debating the merits of Italian tenors is not how I thought my morning would go, but we have a riposte from Charles Antaki:
Yes fine, great to hear Nessun Dorma again, but Bocelli is no Pavarotti - his outfit gave off a rather louche and lightweight vibe, and dear me, what about those aviator specs? Nothing like the musical, metaphorical and physical weight of dear old Luciano.
Updated
Hugh Molloy has emailed in singing the praises of an old favourite:
Absolutely brilliant of Italy to install Nessun Dorma as the Euro 2020/21 song in a delightfully retro nod. It’s not official one but who knows what the nonsense UEFA sanctioned one even is and that’s the price you pay for setting off Italy first who have a banger in the locker.
It was a nice touch to bring out the soundtrack of Italia 90 again:
Andrea Bocelli singing Nessun Dorma 🎤
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 11, 2021
The perfect way to start Euro 2020 🙌 pic.twitter.com/L0l9Wy1AhL
At their peak or past their prime? Belgium have been threatening to do something on the international stage for some time but have so far yet to hit the jackpot with their ‘golden generation’. Roberto Martinez’s Red Devils come into Euro 2020 as the number one ranked team but their are hints that their ageing backline could be a chink in the armour.
Jan Vertonghen admitted this in the buildup:
This will be the tournament with the most pressure. We are at our peak.
The joys of Michel Platini’s tarnished legacy as Uefa president mean that Ben Fisher has had to travel more than 3,000 kilometres to Baku as he reports on Wales during the Euros. The Azerbaijani capital is a strange place to find a superstar but Gareth Bale is undoubtedly still that guy for Wales. As Rob Page’s side try to recapture the magic from France 2016, Bale will have a slightly different role this time around. Great read this.
I am pretty sure that Romelu Lukaku was not playing at Euro 92, so I am guessing the Belgian FA social media team has just got a bit carried away with the filters on this video (still worth a watch though):
Sit back and enjoy all 6⃣0⃣ Devil goals by @RomeluLukaku9! 🤯 #DEVILTIME #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/hmYHgwvaGi
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) June 8, 2021
If you missed the little car, it really is a treat:
I’m more excited by this remote control car than the whole tournament ngl #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/7NONNSMs7J
— Dane Hamilton (@DaneHamiltonn) June 11, 2021
In fact, Jonathan has been busy whilst in Rome. He also made an appearance on the Football Daily podcast, live from Stadio Olimpico, to discuss Andrea Bocelli, little cars (as well the game itself) with Max Rushden, Nicky Bandini, Barry Glendenning and Ed Aarons.
If you have missed Jonathan Liew’s major tournament match reports (albeit this time for a different parish) then his take on the game itself is definitely worth a read.
Updated
Preamble
Good morning, I hope every has recovered from that typically boring tournament opener actually really fun and entertaining Italian win in Rome last night. It is nice to have proper international football back. The best bit is that the sun is out (at least in this corner of London) and there are three - yes THREE - more games to look forward to today, including Plucky Walestm, who kick off their campaign against the Swiss at 2pm BST.
About last night... well you can read all about it. Louise Taylor has been reflecting on the delayed gratification of Italy’s statement performance against Turkey.
Updated
