GN Euro predictions
The Gulf News football team, Matt Smith (Sports Editor), Shamseer Mohammed (DevOps Engineer), Imran Malik (Assistant Editor), special guest and football super fan Sahil Sajan and Shyam Krishna (Senior Associate Editor). Image Credit: Devadasan K P and Vijith Pulikkal/Gulf News

“It’s coming home, it’s coming, football’s coming home!”

The wait is over and Euro 2020 is finally kicking off tomorrow (June 11, 2021) with Italy hosting Turkey in Rome in what should be a pretty tasty Group A clash.

The tournament, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be played across 11 different host cities. This is the first time in its 60-year history that this many hosts are being used and it’s all due to health and safety regulations and a bid to avoid a spike in cases.

Previewing the highly anticipated month-long competition are Gulf News staffers Matt Smith (Sports Editor), Shyam Krishna (Senior Associate Editor), Imran Malik (Assistant Editor), Shamseer Mohammed (DevOps Engineer) and special guest and football super fan, Sahil Sajan.

In with a shout

There are several nations who will fancy their chances such as France who have a squad bursting with quality. The stage is set for Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé but you should never underestimate the Germans. They too have a solid squad and perhaps Timo Werner will prove he can be a handful. He'll be ably assisted by Thomas Muller while England, who made it to the 2018 World Cup semi-final cannot be ruled out. Will Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling guide them to glory?

Portugal too will be thinking they can go all the way what with Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes pulling the strings. This may be the last chance for Belgium's golden generation to lift a trophy and Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard will want to go out with a bang.

Watch the boys discuss the beautiful game (and share a laugh along the way!) as they offer their predictions on who will be the eventual winners, who will win the Golden Boot, who will be the Player of the Tournament, and who they think are the dark horses.

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