ImageCourtesy: San Diego Union-Tribune
The much-anticipated Euro 2020 finals kick off on Friday, with form team Italy hosting fast-improving Turkey at the legendary Stadio Olimpico. Twenty-four nations are competing for glory throughout the continent, with Italy aiming to win the Euros for the second time after claiming the trophy on home soil in 1968.
While the Azzurri look to capitalize on home advantage in Rome, their Turkish counterparts hope to avoid defeat in their opening match of the competition at the fifth attempt. The Azzurri have been resurrected under Roberto Mancini after the agony of missing out on the World Cup for the first time in 60 years. They breezed through Euro qualifying, despite being in a poor group, winning all ten games, scoring 37 goals, and conceding only four. That enthusiasm has carried over into the finals warm-up games, most notably a 4-0 thrashing of the Czech Republic.
Turkey finished qualifying just two points behind world champions France, losing only once and has won several significant scalps in recent years. They overcame Holland 4-2 in World Cup qualification and followed it up with a 3-0 win in Norway, but a 3-3 draw with Latvia at home indicates the Turks are still inconsistent.
Head to head:
Italy has been a thorny issue for the Turks, who have never beaten them in 11 meetings. However, they have three draws, including a 1-1 tie in the last two friendly matches. Both teams qualified from the section after meeting in the Euro 2000 group opener, which Italy won 2-1 in Arnhem (below).
Line ups:
Turkey possible starting lineup: Cakir, Celik, Demiral, Soyuncu, Meras; Yokuslu, Calhanoglu, Tufan, Under, Yazici, Yilmaz
Italy possible starting lineup: Donnarumma, Florenzi, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola, Barella, Jorginho, Locatelli, Berardi, Immobile, Insigne
Predictions:
Both nations have recently had a rebirth, thus two well-organized teams are set to play out a close-fought but technically proficient contest. With either team may be perceiving the other as their main group opponent, one goal may decide the outcome, especially given the level of defensive nous on display. Hence we predict a 1-0 victory for Italy.
What are your predictions for the game? We feel that both the teams will make it past the group stage and into the knockouts.