The Euros

            This summer The Euros will be played in France. It’s a soccer tournament that is very similar to The World Cup, but instead of every country in the world having the chance to qualify, only European countries can. The tournament is played every four years, and is a great way to watch some of the best players in the world go head to head. National team games have a different vibe than the club team games that are on the rest of the year. You are born to a nation and, as an extension, its team. Each nation has to do the best they can with the players they are given, whereas club teams can buy and sell players as they deem necessary (assuming they can afford it).

             While many people believe Germany will take home the gold, as they did two years ago at the 2014 World Cup, I don’t think that they will. There are many teams that will be able to put together very strong teams that are certain to give Germany a tough time. England looks to be very strong, with several young players coming off of breakout seasons. France looks to be fielding a moderately older, yet very similar, team of recent breakout stars. Belgium has a few solid older players who can, hopefully, lead a squad of young talent to victory (they may be a little too young to do well at this tournament, but they will undeniably be a force at the 2018 World Cup and 2020 Euros). Regardless of who wins, the tournament promises to be as thrilling as ever, and I’m very excited for it to begin.