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Previewing Euro 2016 Group D

By Anthony Gallo

Spanish national football team head coach Vicente del Bosque (C, L) gestures as he speaks to his players during a training session in Schruns on May 27, 2016 where they prepare for the upcoming Euro 2016 European football championships. / AFP / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)
Spanish national football team head coach Vicente del Bosque (C, L) gestures as he speaks to his players during a training session in Schruns on May 27, 2016 where they prepare for the upcoming Euro 2016 European football championships. / AFP / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Here is a quick look at how Group D in Euro 2016 could look like.

Croatia

This will be the fifth time The Blazers hit the pitch for a European Championship, and they could go pretty far in Euro 2016. Croatia boasts a pretty solid lineup. The likes of Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic are two really sound midfielders to have in any lineup. Bring in Inter’s Ivan Persic, Madrid’s Mateo Kovacic and Juventus’ Mario Mandzukic, then this team could go well past the round of 16.

Croatia was actually the better team in qualifying, as they had the most goals (20) and the less amount of goals conceded (5) in their group. Yet somehow they finished in second behind Italy, who they tied twice. Their back line of Vedran Corluka, Domagoj Vida, Sime Vrsaljko and captain Darijo Srna look to be solid and could cause problems for the teams in their group.

If they can put together a strong defensive showing, and allow their attacking line of Perisic, Kovacic and Mandzukic to do all the goal scoring, than Croatia could actually go far in this tournament.

Czech Republic

Group D won’t be an easy one for any team to get out of. Croatia are a good team, but could fall apart if their defence let’s them down. That could mean the Czech Republic could sweep in and advance to the knockout stages. This Czech team, led by Arsenal’s Petr Cech, has players that aren’t well known outside of Czech Republic, but that doesn’t mean they will fail in Euro 2016. Thanks to Sparta Prague going deep in the Europa League this past season, five players from that team have made it into Pavel Vrba’s team.

The Czech’s did top their qualifying group, that had the Netherlands, Turkey and Iceland, and could have a good chance to get to the knockout round in this tournament. However, they gave up the most goals out of any team that made it to Euro 2016 and if their back line does the same again, they could be heading home early.

Forwards Borek Dockal, Ladislav Krejci and Tomas Necid will be huge for their country and will need to go against the favorites Spain right away. The team has faltered in their previous friendlies against South Korea and Scotland, and Vrba will need to work some magic for his team get by Turkey and Croatia.

Spain

What can be said about Spain that people don’t already know about? They are a European powerhouse, winning Euro 2008, the World Cup in 2010 and then the Euro again in 2012. Spain is definitely a team to be afraid of. However, after a 2014 World Cup that saw them not make it out of the group stage for the first since 1998, Spain is out for vengeance and look to earn that top spot in the FIFA rankings.

The back line is still a strong one, as they gave up only three goals in qualifying. The defence is spearheaded by Barcelona’s Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos and Atletico Madrid’s Juanfran. In goal, you have the new generation of Spanish goalkeeping in Manchester United’s David De Gea.

The midfield will still likely have Barca’s Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, and Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas, but the real question will be the striker. Can Athletic Bilbao’s Aritz Aduriz guide the team to glory? Will Juventus striker Alvaro Morata make an appearance? Those are the only issues for this Spain team, as they should easily get past this group, because if not, La Roja will need to go back to the drawing board and make some hard decisions come Russia 2018.

Turkey

Turkey will be back at a European Championship since missing out on Euro 2012. They had a decent qualifying campaign, giving up nine goals and scoring 14 and were given an automatic spot in Euro 2016 because they had one of the best 3rd place records. Even though the finished behind Iceland and group rivals Czech Republic, they can still cause trouble for teams in Group D.

Manager Fatih Terim will look to the future of Turkey, with stars like Bayer Leverkusen’s Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Fenerbahce’s Ozan Tufan and Besiktas’ Oğuzhan Özyakup all having at least 18 caps for the senior team, before the age of 23.

Turkey has been dominant as well in the past year, only losing once to England on May 22nd, 2016 and two draws to Latvia and the Netherlands. With a record of 12-1-2 since last March, Turkey definitely has the players and form to leapfrog into second in Group D. They will need show that their managers decision to give youths more opportunities will pay off.

Next: GALLERY: Athletes mentoring athletes

Prediction:

  1. Spain
  2. Turkey
  3. Croatia
  4. Czech Republic

For more Euro 2016 coverage, visit our Euro 2016 hub page.

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