EURO 2020 Group A Preview and Prediction: Azzurri No.1, Switzerland Behind

Group A at the EURO 2020 championship will be very interesting to watch. One contender to win the title, Italy, two sides who are going upwards in the last few seasons, Switzerland and Turkey, and one very nasty team that could snap a point or two and make things harder for other squads, Wales. This is the inaugural article in our series, which will cover all 6 groups. As always when it comes to soccer, my friend Kurt and I will have the honor of completing this task.

Italy

Azzurri didn’t lose in 27 straight games, and during that period, Roberto Mancini’s side kept its net intact in at least 20 events. Their defense is composed of experienced players, like Chiellini and Bonucci, who play for a long time, and several other veterans from the domestic teams. Fantastic Donnarumma is at the goal line, one of the best goalkeepers globally, and arguably the biggest talent of them all.

The midfield and the attack have many new young faces, but the key players (Immobile, Insigne, Verratti) have a solid experience. Those youngsters are an upgrade that proved to be incredibly good.

Switzerland

This team has a core which plays together for the last five years, and they have reached a very high level of performance. Switzerland doesn’t have some flashy names on its roster, but the entire team plays like one, and they know how to grind a victory even against the top teams on the continent.

Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Haris Seferovic are the key players in the lineup, with all three dictating the game’s pace. Arsenal’s and Liverpool’s stars are the motor of the team, while Seferovic presents the main weapon upfront, and a guy who takes care when it comes to hitting the back of the rival’s net.

Turkey

The Turks have rapidly improved in the past year and come to EURO after several outstanding performances that saw them demolishing the Netherlands and Norway at the World Cup qualifiers. This unit knows how to catch an incredibly massive momentum, and once one team falls into their rhythm, Turkey often finishes the job without any problems.

This team has several very good players, like the veteran Burak Yilmaz, who led his Lille to the title in the French Ligue 1, or the young Cengiz Under who plays for Roma. Of course, the most prominent stars are Leicester’s center-back Caglar Soyuncy and AC Milan’s midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.

Wales

The Dragons are an unusual squad, with several veterans and a few extremely talented youngsters who are playing for the top sides in the English Premier League. Wales is a very tough team, who prefers to wait for counter-attacks and protects its goal first. You won’t see too many scores when Robert Page’s boys play.

Of course, when doing that, they are using Gareth Bale’s speed, with the former Real Madrid players being the absolute leader of the crew. Joe Allen is organizing the midfield, while the youngsters Neco Williams and Ben Davies present a bright future for this national team.

Prediction

Italy should win this tough group, and in our opinion, the Swiss side will finish second solely because they have a better midfield than Turkey and Wales. They seem much more organized and tactically better than these two rivals.