In ten cities in Germany, 24 teams begin the quest to excel at Euro 2024 tonight.
An event which is expected to be marked by the great talents who are already doing great things at club level (see... Bellingham), while at the same time, the event will also be the swan song in the career of footballers such as Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, etc. . It will also be the last Euro at the same time for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hooligans and... Isis the fear of the police
Of course, the No. 1 issue for the organizers will be security. Under online threats from ISIS, but also in fear of die-hard fans of some teams such as Serbia and Hungary with "armies" of far-right hooligans, tens of thousands of police officers will be on the streets of the ten cities and around the stadiums that will host the games .
For this year's Euro 2024, 3 million tickets were made available in total and up to ten days ago, over 2 million had been sold. However, due to the adoration of the Germans, we expect to see almost all the games sold out.
Expenses and income
The organization cost the Germans approximately 650 million euros and a total of 12 million visitors are expected, which will bring huge revenues to catering and tourism businesses.
The organization will also have income for the teams. The 24 finalists will receive 9,5 million euros for their presence alone. For each victory they will receive 1 million, while for a draw 500.000 euros. Yet.
Attendance at 16: 1,5 million
At 8: 2,5 million
In the semi-finals: 4 million
Finalist: 5 million
Winner: 8 million
The maximum that a team can get if they only win the tournament is 28,5 million. A total of 331 million euros will be given
The stadiums
The groups
Group A
Germany
Scotland
Hungary
Switzerland
The German organizers, although they have strong units, have not been able to convince in the last major events. Their last major tournament was the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, which they won and have been in shallow waters ever since. They remain the favourites, however, against three teams who will fight for second and third place, with Zuber's Switzerland theoretically holding a slight lead.
Group B
Spain
Croatian
Italy
Αλβανία
The group of... death as Albania has fallen on three national teams that in the last 10 years have played in a World Cup or Euro final. It's all open for first place, with Spain theoretically holding a slight lead, but with the title holder (Italy) in the group, nothing can be certain.
Group C
Slovenia
Denmark
England
Serbia
England for another tournament go in as one of the favorites to win, but whether they can carry that burden remains a question mark. Finalists in the last competition, however, will have the first say in the group, against Denmark, which will again have Eriksen on its roster, the combative Serbia, and also Slovenia.
Group D
Netherlands
France
Poland
Austria
Clearly the two favorites in this group, with eyes falling on Mbappe, who is going… fuming after his final deal with Real. France is going full force into the competition and is rightly considered (again) the No. 1 favorite for the title. It remains to be seen whether he will confirm the predictions. From there, it seems certain that the Netherlands will qualify as second, while Poland and Austria will compete for third place.
Group E
Ukraine
Slovakia
Belgium
Romania
Perhaps the most open group, as Belgium is the big favorite, but it is in a competitive decline and is not convinced that it can star. The group is however bidding to reach first place and have a passable team in the round of 16. From there, Ukraine shows that it has the first say, since Romania and Slovakia are not convincing as teams.
In the sixth group
Portugal
Czech republic
Georgia
Turkey
In what is likely to be his last Euro, Cristiano Ronaldo is aiming for one more victory. Portugal have a tight club, they also have a group in which they can easily finish first and in the qualifiers with their performances they have convinced that they can go far. Maybe even until the final on July 14th...
Premiere with Germany - Scotland, full schedule
The competition kicks off today (22:00) with hosts Germany welcoming hard-nosed Scotland in Munich (Frenchman Turpin).
The entire program of Euro 2024
The faces
Group A: Toni Kroos (Germany)
The perfect end to a great career. The Real midfielder won the Champions League and in the Euro organized in his home country, he will complete his career. Ideally he would like to reach the final as well, but in any case, his last game, whatever it is, will overshadow everything.
Group B: Luka Modric (Croatia)
Spain and Italy may be in the group, but Luka Modric is saying goodbye to the national team with which he had the pleasure of reaching the final of a World Cup. The maestro of the Croatian national team will try to help them make another big run at the Euros, hoping to spring a surprise.
Group C: Christian Eriksen (Denmark)
The whole world was frozen when he saw on live connection the captain of the Danish national team collapse on the ground and his wife running crying on the pitch, 4 years ago at the last Euro, while his teammates made a big circle so that the viewers what's going on. Eriksen is returning to the competition and that in itself is news.
Group D: Kylian Mbappe (France)
The French star is going… made up for this European, after finalizing his deal with Real Madrid. He is expected to have a big tournament and with France expected to go far in the tournament, it is not out of the question to see him make some big plays
Group E: Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine)
For non-competitive reasons Ukraine will have many supporters. On the playing side he will rely heavily on Artem Dovbik, who had a great season with Girona in La Liga and has attracted a number of clubs and is reportedly close to closing in on Atletico Madrid.
Group 6: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
At 39, CR7 wants to close his presence in the National team with another title. He has all the ingredients to succeed, he remains in excellent form, as he showed in a recent friendly and we expect to see great things from the Portuguese.
Source: iefimerida.gr