UEFA Nations League brings back excitement of tournament play

The Euros this past summer captivated much of the planet. The UEFA Nations League semifinals will do the same this week starting Wednesday when Italy take on Spain.  

The UEFA Nations League concludes this week with two semifinal matchups between four of Europe’s best teams.

Italy, who won the European Championship this past July, plays Spain on Wednesday in Milan. The following day, France and Belgium lock horns in Turin. The winners meet in the final this Sunday. The losers will play for third place the same day.

Fans couldn’t ask for anything more to start off October. The pandemic-delayed Euro 2020 tournament contested this past summer captivated much of the planet. The UEFA Nations League, in just its second edition, can do the very same thing this week.

The aim of the Nations League was to reduce the number of meaningless friendlies at the national team level. While we have had plenty of World Cup qualifying matches over the past two months, nothing beats a short tournament with a trophy on the line. It’s a rare treat on the national team level when so much of the soccer we are used to watching this time of year is primarily at the club level.

Italy-Spain begins the UEFA Nations League play on Wednesday

The Italians, who will serve as Nations League hosts, will be tough to beat after this summer’s triumph. Under manager Roberto Mancini, the team has been transformed tactically. No longer a team that focuses solely on defense and counter-attacking soccer, Italy now employs an exciting end-to-end type of game that has often overwhelmed opponents.

The Italians are in the midst of a world-record 37-game unbeaten streak, something Spain will be looking to break at the San Siro after La Roja went down to them on penalties in the semifinals at the Euros. Italy has many exciting players, most notably goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and Chelsea midfielder Jorginho, that makes them favorites this week. Only four players are missing from Mancini’s 26-player roster who beat England in the Euro final: Leonardo Spinazzola, Alessandro Florenzi, Gaetano Castrovilli and Andrea Belotti. All are injured.

Should Italy win the Nations League, they would replicate the success of Portugal. In 2019, Portugal added a Nations League to their trophy case after capturing the Euros in 2016. The Azzurri, however, know better than to rest on their laurels. Spain are a young and exciting side and under manager Luis Enrique has continued to show that they remain contenders for this trophy and potentially even next year’s World Cup. Spain will be missing Barcelona’s Pedri, one of the best young midfielders at the moment, due to injury, but overall has a strong roster.

“It would be amazing to win [the Nations League] after the European Championship … but it won’t be that easy,” Mancini told UEFA.com.

The other semifinal between France, the defending World Cup champions, and Belgium should also prove riveting. Both teams were heavy favorites to win the European Championship, but both fell short. Belgium, and its much-hyped golden generation, need to win a trophy if they want to make good on all the praise this team has received in recent years given their star-studded roster.

The Nation League may not be the trophy Belgium had been eyeing, but it could serve as a decent consolation prize for the Red Devils and Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku going into the World Cup.

France, meanwhile, also features a strong roster. Kylian Mbappe’s stock may have dipped slightly after a disappointing Euros, but the PSG star remains a top striker and he will need to have a big week as well if Les Bleus want to show everyone that they remain among the best national teams on the planet.

“You always go into a competition to win it. We didn’t achieve that goal [at the Euros], but we have other challenges ahead of us, so we focus on that and the counters are reset each time, whether it’s after a victory or a loss,” defender Raphael Varane told UEFA.com. “We’ve already won [the World Cup]. We want to relive great emotions, so of course, we want to win.”

For most of us, it really doesn’t matter who lifts the trophy at the San Siro. The winners are the fans. To have four heavyweights contend for a trophy at the start of fall is a gift. It brings back all the fun and excitement from this past summer. The UEFA Nations League is a chance for all of us to indulge in some top-caliber soccer and serves once again as a showcase for the European game.