England launches, Poland/Netherlands as a shock

Harry Kane’s England puts its status as favorite at the Euro to the test on Sunday against Serbia, in the epilogue of a day animated by the poster between Poland and the Netherlands, future opponents of the Blues.

Several big fish from the Old Continent are jumping into the water and will try to imitate Germany, the majestic host country on Friday ahead of Scotland (5-1), or even Spain, too strong on Saturday for Croatia ( 3-0).

In Hamburg, the Dutch armada of Virgil van Dijk, Xavi Simons and Memphis Depay enters directly into the tough game against Poland.

The “Oranje” selection can count on its thousands of supporters, a gentle, joyful and colorful tide who took over the streets of the port city on Sunday morning with many jerseys, flags and music.

Opposite, Poland wants to play spoilsport. The difference in the Fifa ranking “will not play any role, we will give them problems and win,” said midfielder Piotr Zielinski.

Polish without Lewandowski

History and predictions are clearly not in their favor, however. The “Bialo-czerwoni” (Red and White) have not beaten the Dutch since 1979, almost a decade before the birth of Robert Lewandowski.

The star striker of FC Barcelona, injured in a thigh, will miss the clash against the Netherlands, and Poland will not be able to replace him with Arkadiusz Milik, the ex-Marseillais of Juventus Turin, who is out of the tournament.

Both teams know to what extent victory is imperative entering this group D, where the France team looks like a scarecrow.

Didier Deschamps will have the opportunity to observe his future opponents on TV, before his press conference scheduled for the end of the afternoon in Düsseldorf, where the Blues face Austria on Monday (9:00 p.m.).

Caught up in training the day before the match, the coach of the vice-world champions will not, however, be able to watch Slovenia-Denmark (6:00 p.m.), the first poster of Group C in Stuttgart.

The team led by Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund, the two Danes from Manchester United, are favorites against the Slovenes, qualified for only the second time at the Euro, twenty-four years after a first participation ended without the slightest victory.

The small Central European country still has some individual assets like the experienced Atlético Madrid goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, 31, and the promising Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, ten years younger.

The day will culminate with the group match between Serbia and England, kicking off at 9:00 p.m. in Gelsenkirchen.

Here again, a big gap seems to separate the “Three Lions” of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka, and the “Eagles” of Serbia, qualified for the Euro for the first time since the country’s independence in the 2000s. .

English under pressure

“Serbia is not a team that will wait and watch England, on the contrary”, it will want to “play” and “show its talent”, launched coach Dragan Stojkovic, predicting a “very open” match.

The English are used to pressure, but it has gone up a notch around coach Gareth Southgate, finalist of the previous Euro, at the head of a team full of talent.

His attacking quartet of Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane, the captain, have combined for 114 goals this club season. But his defense, remodeled according to injuries, does not offer all the guarantees.

The 53-year-old technician, whose contract expires in December, called on his group not to miss the stages, and not to underestimate the first Serbian opponent.

“They have good individuals, a fantastic state of mind, dangerous attackers. So we know it will be a really difficult opening match for us,” he summed up.

Off the field, local authorities are on alert as a match considered risky in the stands approaches. No serious incident has so far been recorded on the sidelines of the Euro.