Over the next few days the home
nations get their qualifying campaigns for EURO 2016 in France under way. There will no doubt be a lot of ups and
downs during the groups over the course of the next year or so but I think
there is a lot for fans to look forward to. With the amount of teams reaching the final stages of the
tournament in France increased from 16 to 24, this is going to be the best
chance for a few years that almost all our home nations can be really competitive
in qualifying. Some tough games on
the horizon, most notably Scotland who have to face Germany in their opener but
even with this I can see all our teams getting to France with maybe one
exception. N. Ireland may struggle
with the lack of quality throughout their whole side but they are fighters and
will not give up. They could
spring a decent result here and there and then who knows what could
happen. Fingers crossed everyone
performs as well as they can and the fans enjoy supporting their countries.
GEORGIA v REP. of IRELAND -
SUNDAY 7TH K.O. 17:00
Martin O'Neill finally kicks off
his first competitive game for the Republic after taking over in November,
taking on Georgia away from home.
Although the home side have improved themselves over the last ten years
or more they still should not be a match for the Irish. If O'Neill cannot get his players
motivated then Roy Keane is there to look into the whites of their eyes and
tell them straight what they need to do.
I fully expect Rep. of Ireland to get a win here and follow it up with a
good qualifying campaign.
HUNGARY v NORTHERN IRELAND -
SUNDAY 7TH K.O. 17:00
Another home nation kicking off
away, as Northern Ireland attempt to start their campaign off in style. This will be tough for Ireland, Hungary
are no world beaters but they are good enough to get a win in this game. N. Ireland have got a knack of getting
a surprise result or two now and again so fingers crossed they can spring one
here, however I think they should be more than happy if they come away with a
point to start the qualifying group off.
GERMANY v SCOTLAND - SUNDAY
7TH K.O. 19:45
Well it does not get much
tougher than this for Scotland, their first group game against the World
Champions. The Scots under Gordon
Strachan have been playing well and made themselves tough to beat, however this
German side is a proper team and work for each other as well as having an
immense amount of individual talent.
I do not expect Scotland to get a beating as bad as the Brazilians did
from Germany but I do expect them to lose, I can see it being a closer game
than most imagine and the Tartan Army to come away with plenty of Pride.
SWITZERLAND v ENGLAND -
MONDAY 8TH K.O. 19:45
The fans have gone quiet for
England, and the pressure is on to get a result and win a few supporters back
in this game. It is definitely the
hardest game England should face in qualifying. Switzerland have the ability to match a lot of teams in
European football and I fully expect them to make it hard work for
England. In a lot of ways it is a
must not lose game for Roy Hodgson as he sets about restoring pride in his
team, I think a lot of fans will accept a draw as long as it comes with a
positive performance to give fans hope and optimism for the campaign ahead.
ANDORRA v WALES - TUESDAY 9TH
K.O. 19:45
Gareth Bale takes on Andorra on
Tuesday....ummm I mean Wales take on Andorra. In fairness Wales have been getting some decent results over
the last 12 months without playing that well. They also do now have a number of established and high
profile top-level footballers.
Ashley Williams, Aaron Ramsey and of course Bale are the stars and they
will all have to be at their best and have good support and performances from
their team mates. With these three
players as well as solid boys around them I fully expect Wales to come away
with all the points, as long as the artificial pitch they will be playing on
does not affect the game too much.
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