Northern Ireland have been drawn in Group C alongside Germany, Ukraine and Poland, while the Republic of Ireland have been put in what appears to be the Group of Death with Belgium, Italy and Sweden.
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Courtois said: “Hopefully we do well against Italy who are the biggest competitor for group victory”.
England and Wales will meet for the first time at a major tournament after being drawn together in Group B to Chris Coleman’s dismay.
“We’re going into the tournament with the challenge of trying to win the final for the third consecutive time – a feat which has never been achieved”.
“We are very pleased Wales have done so well, and whichever of the teams we got in that pot, it would be tough”.
Wales players Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal and Ashley Williams of Swansea City are Premier League regulars, while Gareth Bale of Real Madrid played for Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Spain for a world record transfer fee of 85 million pounds ($129.33 million) in 2013.
“Sweden is a game to look forward to, so let’s go for it. Sweden are not a one man team, they were quite strong in qualifying but Ibrahimovic is a top class player”.
Ireland open against Sweden on June 13, face Belgium on June 18 before finishing against Italy on June 22.
“It couldn’t get tougher”, Ireland manager Martin O’Neill said.
“To win ten games like they did in the qualifying campaign is a fantastic return”. “There will be plenty of research between now and June and we can find out as much as we can before the campaign”.
Defending champion Spain was paired again with Croatia in Group D, having secured a 1-0 victory at the same stage in 2012 on the way to a second straight European Championship crown.
Wales will kick off the tournament against Slovakia on June 11 in Bordeuax, before facing England on June 16 in Lens. We know Poland well from the qualification. “The atmosphere in those games will be incredible”. This group is really up in the air, Portugal are strong favorites because of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, however the other teams especially Iceland have a great chance of nicking first place if the Portuguese do not have a good showing.
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The Stade de France, targeted in the Paris attacks last month, will be the venue for the first match as well as the final on July 10.
