Monday, June 7th, 2021
The EM preview: Group E
The French who suddenly became Spanish
By Stephan Uersfeld
A Frenchman who is supposed to hold the defense together for Spain. More than 3,500 kilometers between the two venues in Seville and St. Petersburg. A coach who does not assign all of the squad places and two former BVB strikers who have to be important for their teams. Group E will be entertaining.
On June 11, 2021, the EM 2020 starts with a one-year delay. The tournament, which is held across Europe, will be played for the first time with 24 teams. From a total of six groups (A to F), up to three countries can qualify for the round of 16. Little is clear about this European Championship, but one thing is certain: The final round with the two semi-finals and the final will be played from July 6th in London’s Wembley Stadium. Before that there is a wild ride for some nations with venues between Seville and Baku. From now on we will look at a group every day. It starts with group E. There tournament favorites Spain meet Poland and Sweden as well as the big outsider Slovakia.
Here’s a player to watch out for:
Aymeric Laporte looked at the reporter in disbelief. The day after his debut, he wanted to know whether he could identify with Spain at all. “Like Spain,” said the 27-year-old, “I want to win the competition. I will give everything for that. And that is the most important thing.”
The thing is: Laporte is actually French and, in the absence of Sergio Ramos, the big defensive hope of the big title favorites. Born in Agen in southwest France, the defender moved to the Basque Country as a teenager. There he advanced his career at Athletic Bilbao, but went through all youth selections for France. In countless of his 51 games for the U-teams, he led the team as captain on the pitch. But then at some point it was over.
Although he was called up to the squad for two World Cup qualifiers in 2016, he was not on the pitch in the games against Bulgaria and the Netherlands. However, he made a commitment: He did not want to play for Spain. It turned out differently. At the beginning of June he wore the jersey of the 2010 world champions for the first time in the 0-0 draw against Portugal. It was now logical. Deschamps had ignored him for too long and at 27 he is in the prime defensive age. He played for Athletic Bilbao until 2018 and then moved to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. After a successful debut season, he seriously injured his knee in 2019 and has not yet got his feet back on his feet. In the season just ended, he lost the connection and was also on the bench in the lost Champions League final against Chelsea.
When national coach Luis Enrique looked around after some injuries, he saw Laporte and he was enthusiastic. What happened after that is unclear. Did he inform France coach Deschamps or not? The player says yes, the coach replies: “That’s a lie. He last contacted me last October.” Laporte was not interested in any of this. He had commented on it and now wanted to look ahead. When asked about the accusation of lying, he had informed Deschamps, but perhaps the number was no longer up-to-date. “I don’t care either, to be honest,” he said. After the EM, Laporte could go back to Spain. Barcelona should be interested. Before that, the defender wants to convince in his first tournament and become European champion with his new home country.
You should definitely know:
Spain again. Due to the pandemic and its effects, the associations were allowed to nominate 26 instead of the usual 23 players this year. Of course, also to ensure that every team can play with a complete team in the end. The regulations require a minimum of 13 players ready to play. Now Spain coach Luis Enrique has voluntarily renounced two players, nominated only 24, of which one is already eliminated with captain Sergio Busquets. He tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday. Will Enrique nominate a player? That is not yet known. And if so, he probably won’t come from Real Madrid. Not a single Los Blancos player can be found in the squad, not even Sergio Ramos, who with 180 internationals was only four of the international record of the Egyptian Ahmed Hassan and will now barely reach the mark of 184 internationals. He recently plagued himself with protracted injuries.
Don’t miss this game:
One of the last preliminary round games should be one of the most important games for the participating teams. When Sweden and Poland meet in St. Petersburg on June 23, it could be a question of qualifying for the round of 16. Both teams have a good chance of reaching the next round, but this will be about the best starting position. While the Poles will have all eyes on star striker Robert Lewandowski, the Scandinavians are hoping for Alexander Isak, who – unlike the Pole – was never able to gain a foothold at Borussia Dortmund, but is now showing impressive performances for Real Sociedad. With 17 goals, he finished sixth on the Spanish top scorer list in the last La Liga season. In the absence of superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the blue and yellow will have to rely on the lanky Solna striker.
Here is played:
Tournament favorite Spain will play all group stage matches at the Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla. The Andalusian metropolis stepped in for Bilbao at short notice, where the local authorities could not guarantee the return of the spectators, as requested by UEFA. In Seville, 18,000 spectators will now cheer their team. The current home of the Spanish Cup final has an actual capacity of 60,000 and has a career that some TV viewers will remember from the 1999 World Athletics Championships. The remaining group matches will be played over 3500 kilometers away in the city of white nights, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Krestowski Stadium, in which there were vaccination offers for every visitor to a league game of the local representative Zenit during the season of the Russian league, offers space for around 68,000 spectators, with just over 30,000 admitted to the EM. The games were originally played in Dublin, but the Irish government did not want to give any guarantees that the spectators would return.
Now it is your turn! Who will win the group?
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