Euro 2016, officially known as the European Championships 2016, will be the big football event of the summer when it takes place between June 10 and July 10 in France. Most of the world’s biggest footballing nations are there, from the French to the Germans, Italians, and Spanish—as well as less fancied nations like Ukraine. So what are the chances of success for Ukraine at this year’s European Championships?
Ukraine has been drawn in Group C for the initial group stages of the tournament, with Germany, Northern Ireland and Poland as the other sides in the group. Realistically, Germany will be considered by most to be the favourites to win this group—despite not always looking convincing in the qualifiers.
But with both the winners and the second placed side making it through to the knockout stages automatically, and the four third-placed teams with the highest ranking also qualifying, Ukraine has a pretty good chance of making it at least into the knockout stage of Euro 2016. This is only the country’s second appearance in this particular tournament, having reached the group stage four years ago, and supporters will certainly be hoping to go one better by making it out of the group this time round.
There are a lot of relatively unknown quantities in the Ukrainian squad for those in the United Kingdom, as it is one of the few not to include any English Premier League players. Ukraine’s big strength in qualifying was a mean defence that conceded just five goals during the 12 qualifying matches, which suggests that keeping things tight will be the primary tactic deployed during the tournament. This does not mean, however, that the team is entirely lacking in attacking talent or flair, as right winger Andriy Yarmolenko—who has scored 22 times in 55 matches for his country—is the man most likely to get them the goals they need, while Yevhen Konoplyanka also provides a threat on the opposite wing. They will need these players to be on form for them to make an impact in France.
At around 66/1 at many bookmakers, Ukraine is definitely one of the outside bets to win Euro 2016 and it is hard to see them having sufficient creativity or goal threat to go all the way.
The coach Myhaylo Fomenko has become known for a rather dour, defensive approach which is not likely to bring success in a knockout tournament like this. A bet on them to qualify from their group is one that would be well worth considering— especially given Germany’s mediocre form and the obvious desire the team will feel to beat near neighbours Poland. Of course, if you want a more enjoyable way of predicting the tournament winner, you can always hold a personal Euro 2016 tournament from home using a games console. Alternately, simply grab your mobile phone and try your luck at a mobile casino like mobilecasinocanada for football slots.
This is a decent opportunity for Ukraine to make their first real mark on this tournament by progressing to the knockout stages, but it will probably be the likes of France, Germany, Spain and maybe Belgium that will be favourites to win the tournament.
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