Italia

[Sassuolu]

Conte almost won a Euro, how is Mancini anywhere close to Conte?

He got to the Quarters.

[K.I.]

I forgot about Prandelli, my bad

[brehme1989]

yet according to some people here Mancini doesn't know anything about coaching

I think this young Italy might be Mancini's biggest achievement yet, even better than wining those Scudetti with Inter and the EPL with City. Not because of all these silly records this young Azzurri have broken (coz they haven't won anything yet), but in terms of the transformation and the style of play. Mancio has truly re-invented himself and the Azzurri.

Or maybe Mancini just came at the right time with the right attitude. Maybe if he went there in 2012 or 2014 he'd be one of the same.

Conte did not give a chance to Italian youth.
Ventura did not give a chance to Italian youth.
Someone had to eventually, the others either retired or still play at 35-40 years of age.

We all knew there is talent here with Italy in the past 4-5 years (especially with the 21-24yrs) and of course credit to Mancini for making them tick. And also for doing what Italian fans and fans of the Italian NT have been screaming for almost a decade now.

But witnessing Mancini as a player you could see that this guy understands football. The problem with him as a coach was that he was also a person. And as a person, he had to include people he was familiar with all the time at the expense of football logic. This applied to most of his club football managerial experience. It's going to be a real test for him in the Euro, which is a winnable competition for Italy.

[ElDuccio]

Belgium will win euro tbh

[brehme1989]

Depending on the 'luck of the draw', I see France, Spain, Italy and Holland being the main contenders. Belgium has a very strong squad and should be able to compete. It feels like their last hurrah. If they face one of these teams I think they will fail, otherwise their ceiling is high. If they end up playing vs Germany, England, Portugal etc in an advanced stage they can reach the final imo.

Still too early to tell since we don't know the called up squads and conditions of players, but speaking of full force here of course.

Belgium just gives me a vibe of a team that can only win against scrub teams or fluke a win vs a similar level team. They have all the right players on paper in every position but they don't seem to click when it matters.

I'm not taking into account the 2018 parody World Cup (quarters and on it seemed like the most underwhelming World Cup in memory).

[Sassuolu]

Hard to predict, it depends on how the players arrive at the tournament pretty hard to predict it should be fun.

I'll be in Munich for a Quarter Final match if Germany wins their game tonight it could be Netherlands v Belgium if they both win their groups and get to the Quarters.

[brehme1989]

Hard to predict, it depends on how the players arrive at the tournament pretty hard to predict it should be fun.

I'll be in Munich for a Quarter Final match if Germany wins their game tonight it could be Netherlands v Belgium if they both win their groups and get to the Quarters.

Wait, how does that work? Last time we didn't even know who played whom in the last 16 until the final group day.

[Sassuolu]

There a lot of host nations in this one so for example Italy will be in Group A since they'll be hosting the opener.

[brehme1989]

Just saw some groups have 3/4 teams done, others just 1/4. Wtf.

But how do you have qf tickets? Are they out?

[Materazzi_23]

Holland is also qualified and we already know that we have 3 home games in the group stage, really don't understand how it all works but I heard it yesterday.

[ScottishInterista]

Just saw some groups have 3/4 teams done, others just 1/4. Wtf.

But how do you have qf tickets? Are they out?

The tickets for Hampden have already been allocated. Though as far as i can tell scotland wont play there

[CoolMan44]

Not really a fan of this new format/draw.

[brakbrak]

Group A: Italy,Turkey,Swiss and Wales. Feels really good about this group, although Bale's speed can be very dangerous.

[Shark]

Switzerland v Turkey classic

Now shaqiri will finally get his chance to take revenge on Mancini for sending him to the mountain healer.

[ADRossi]

Pretty happy with the drawing. Obviously thrilled to avoid the Group of Death. With the games being played in Roma, there's no reason not to win the group.