Well, today I will be previewing both Euro 2016 (Which is held in France) and the All Blacks versus Wales test series so let's get started on Euro 2016 because I am still looking forward to it so let's have a look at the teams:
Group A
France (Hosts & 2 time winners in 1984 and 2000 (The last time they won with the likes of Patrick Vieira, Didier Deschamps (Who is the current coach/manager of France), Zinedine Zidane (Future Real Madrid coach/manager) & Thierry Henry). Led by Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris + Paul Pogba of Italian champions Juventus is the key player for Les Bleus)
Romania (Featuring Vlad Chichires as a less familiar star player)
Albania (Tournament debutants featuring Lorik Cana as the key player)
Switzerland (Led by Stephan Lichtsteiner while Xherdan Shaqiri is the star player)
Group B
England (Led by key player from FA Cup champions Manchester United, Wayne Rooney)
Russia (Winner of the 1st European Championship in 1960 (under the Soviet Union name) led by Roman Shirokov while the star player of that team is Aleksandr Kokorin)
Wales (Tournament debutants featuring key man Gareth Bale of European champions Real Madrid (Who beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final in Milan, Italy) who is the world's most expensive footballer/soccer player)
Slovakia (Fellow tournament debutants led by Martin Skrtel who has taken over the captaincy from star man Marek Hamsik)
Group C
Germany (Reigning world champions & 3 time winners in 1972, 1980 & 1996, captained by Manchester United's Bastian Schweinsteiger while Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller is the star man of Die Mannschaft)
Ukraine (Anatoliy Tymoschuk cpatains the side while the key player for the Ukrainians is Yehven Konoplyanka)
Poland (Led by star man for Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski)
Northern Ireland (Tournament debutants featuring key player Kyle Lafferty)
Group D
Spain (3 time winners in 1964, 2008 & 2012 & defending champions led by Iker Casillas of Porto while David Silva is the star man for La Furia Roja along with the likes of Alvaro Morata, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Thiago Alcantara and Sergio Ramos (Who captained Real Madrid to UEFA Champions League glory (#undecima)
Czech Republic (Winners in 1976 under the Czechoslovakia name to be led by Tomas Rosicky of Arsenal while his teammate is goalie Petr Cech who is the key player)
Turkey (Led by the influential star player of FC Barcelona (Champions of the Club World Cup, the La Liga and the Copa Del Rey), Arda Turan)
Croatia (Led by Darijo Srna with Luka Modric from the UEFA Champions League winning side Real Madrid as it's star player)
Group E
Belgium (Led by Chelsea's Eden Hazard with Kevin de Bruyne as it's star player)
Italy (Winners in 1968 with World Cup winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon leading the side and also featuring is Daniele de Rossi who won the FIFA World Cup for his country a decade ago)
Republic of Ireland (Led by the ageing key player from LA Galaxy in the MLS (Major League Soccer) Robbie Keane)
Sweden (Led by Paris Saint Germain's star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic)
& last but not least, Group F
Portugal (Led by Real Madrid's star player, Cristiano Ronaldo)
Iceland (Tournament debutants led by Aron Gunarsson but the key player for Iceland is Gylfi Sigurdsson)
Austria (Led by Leicester City's Christian Fuchs while David Alaba of German champions Bayern Munich is the star man)
Hungary (Led by key player Balasz Dzsudzak who is trying to emulate Ferenc Puskas's hopes)
And of course the All Blacks will go into the test series against Wales (Led by Gareth Bale's answer to rugby Sam Warburton & featuring the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Rhys Webb (Who missed the 2015 Rugby World Cup due to injury), Dan Biggar, Jamie Roberts and George North) as World Champions but the team has been named so here is the starting lineup for the 1st test match at Eden Park (Remember folks that Poppa and I are going to the Wellington one in 9 days time):
1 (Loose head prop): Joe Moody (Canterbury/Crusaders)
2 (Hooker): Dane Coles (Wellington/Hurricanes)
3 (Tight head prop): Owen Franks (Canterbury/Crusaders)
4 (Lock): Luke Romano (Canterbury/Crusaders)
5 (Lock): Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay/Chiefs)
6 (Blindside Flanker): Jerome Kaino (Auckland/Blues)
7 (Openside Flanker): Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty/Chiefs)
8 (Number 8): Kieran Read (Captain, Canterbury/Crusaders)
9 (Half-back): Aaron Smith (Manawatu/Highlanders)
10 (First five eighth): Aaron Cruden (Manawatu/Chiefs)
11 (Left Wing): Julian Savea (Wellington/Hurricanes)
12 (Second five eighth): Ryan Crotty (Canterbury/Crusaders)
13 (Centre): Malakai Fekitoa (Auckland/Highlanders)
14 (Right Wing): Waisake Naholo (Taranaki/Highlanders)
& 15 (Fullback): Ben Smith (Otago/Highlanders)
And in the reserves are Nathan Harris (Who had won his place ahead of Codie Taylor), Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea (Who makes his debut on the bench), TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett & Seta Tamanivalu (Who also makes his debut on the bench).
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