AMSTERDAM, March 2, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The start of Euro 2020 is just over
100 days away, but this week Europe’s leading national teams will take some
time out from their tournament preparations as the draw for the next UEFA
Nations League takes place in Amsterdam.
England’s Gareth Southgate and France’s Didier Deschamps will be among the
coaches from around the continent descending on the Dutch capital despite the
growing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, with the Netherlands
among the many European countries to have reported cases.
European football’s governing body has said that “it is not necessary to
modify anything in the planned calendar” ahead of the start of the Euro in
Italy — the continent’s worst affected country — on June 12, and its
Executive Committee is set to meet in Amsterdam on Monday before a Congress
on Tuesday and the Nations League draw from 6pm (1700 GMT) the same day.
The show goes on, for now anyway, even as top-tier games in Italy were
postponed over the weekend and France said it would ban gatherings of 5,000
people or more in an attempt to contain the spread.
The introduction of the Nations League after the last World Cup in 2018
was initially met with some scepticism, with many wondering how exactly it
was possible to shoehorn yet another competition into an already crowded
calendar.
However, the tournament essentially replaced meaningless friendlies with
competitive games between national teams of a comparable level.
– Portugal the holders –
Time may have been required to get to grips with the format, but
ultimately the inaugural competition proved a breath of fresh air and
concluded with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal hosting and winning the finals in
June 2019, beating the Netherlands 1-0 in the decider.
“The intensity in the groups was really high and the idea to organise the
Nations League was a perfect one,” said Dutch coach Ronald Koeman after that
game. “We are looking forward to the next one.”
This summer will see Portugal defend the European Championship trophy they
won in France four years ago, although they have been drawn in an extremely
difficult group along with the French, the World Cup holders, and Germany.
Those three nations will all be in Nations League A but are all in
separate pots, so they could again come out in the same group, with matches
to be played between September and November before the finals next year.
After finishing third last time around, England are among the top seeds
for the draw in Amsterdam.
Southgate’s side — who are determined to make a big impression at the
Euro with the semi-finals and final being played at Wembley — will
definitely come up against one of Belgium, Spain, France or Italy, while
Germany are potential opponents too.
Southgate will be at the ceremony after attending Everton’s Premier League
draw with Manchester United on Sunday to monitor the performance of, amongst
others, Jordan Pickford.
The Toffees goalkeeper’s form has dipped recently and his place in the
England team could come under threat ahead of the Euro, with friendly matches
scheduled to come at home to Italy and Denmark later this month.
Further down, Scotland have been promoted to League B after their strong
showing in the last competition, and they could be thrown into a group
together with Wales and either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.
They could also again face Israel, with whom they were drawn in the last
tournament and who they are due to again meet in the Nations League play-off
semi-finals in Glasgow on March 26 needing to win to keep their hopes of
making the Euro alive.