UEFA held the draw for Euro 2016 on Saturday, and it looks like the Group of Death will be the Group of MLS.
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“It’s not just about beating England, but we know they are a great team, I’ve total respect for Roy [Hodgson]”.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo will be confident of adding to his record 26 goals in Euros, including qualifiers, in a Group F featuring Iceland and Hungary, but Austria was unbeaten in qualifying and poses a strong threat.
Group B: England, Russia, Wales, Slovakia.
Northern Ireland were drawn in Group C with world champions Germany, plus Poland and Ukraine.
Three teams from each group could qualify, with 16 out of the 24 finalists going into the last 16.
“Payback – my son texted me that immediately after the draw: payback”.
“We will be up against it but they will be up against it too, if we perform like we can it will be a tough game that’s for sure”.
Hodgson’s side meet Wales five days later, and end the group against Slovakia in St Etienne on Monday June 20.
“Sweden is a game to look forward to, so let’s go for it. They are not a one-man team, although Ibrahimovic has been a top class player”.
Wales, whose only previous major tournament appearance came at the 1958 World Cup, face Slovakia in their opening match before locking horns with England, marking the 112th meeting between the two countries.
The encounter with England is one of the stellar ties of the group stage and, despite his pre-draw desire, Coleman will relish the chance to take on Roy Hodgson who, as then-Blackburn manager, sold defender Coleman to Fulham in 1997.
“There were a few teams in that pot that we could have got that would have been a tough one, so why not have a tough one close to home?”
“We all know about the strength of Zlatan and have to be extremely wary”, said Conte.
“But I would like to think we have one or two players that will occupy Chris’s mind in terms of how we stop them”. As for Slovakia, Adam Nemec was the team’s top scorer with three goals, which says much about the attacking prowess, and while Russian Federation has improved since Leonid Slutsky replaced Fabio Capello at the helm, it remains a functional rather than flamboyant side.
Italy got their news on who they will be facing in the group stage in the European Championships next summer – and the news is not good. “But that is why we are here, we deserve to be here and the tournament will be a fantastic one”.
“I think Denmark proved that you can go far and I think that Wales will progress and go a long, long way”. It is really up to Ukraine and N. Ireland to make things as hard as possible for them.
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“We do not have to worry about the players underestimating any matches”.
