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# Je revois la ville en fete et en delire | :00:11. | :00:13. | |
# Suffoquant sous le soleil et sous la joie | :00:14. | :00:17. | |
# Et j'entends dans la musique les cris, les rires | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
# Qui eclatent et rebondissent autour de moi | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
# Emportes par la foule qui nous traine | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
# Emportes par la foule qui nous traine | :00:29. | :00:38. | |
# Et perdue parmi ces gens qui me bousculent | :00:39. | :01:33. | |
COMMENTATOR: Goal, they have done it! France are the European | :01:34. | :01:40. | |
champions. COMMENTATOR: That is Gascoigne, | :01:41. | :01:54. | |
brilliant! Oh! What a goal! The shadow of the Eiffel | :01:55. | :02:21. | |
Tower is our setting On Friday, Euro 2016 kicks off | :02:22. | :03:03. | |
and it's bigger than ever. England, Wales and Northern Ireland | :03:04. | :03:11. | |
are amongst 24 teams aiming to be here in Paris for the | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
final on July 10th. Plenty to discuss over | :03:15. | :03:16. | |
the next 45 minutes. Can England's young ones play | :03:17. | :03:24. | |
without fear and erase It's been a long time | :03:25. | :03:27. | |
coming for Wales, but Coleman is relishing a first | :03:28. | :03:35. | |
major tournament for over 50 years. Northern Ireland | :03:36. | :03:40. | |
have never played in a European Championship | :03:41. | :03:42. | |
and are ready to spring And our hosts are amongst the usual | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
superpowers of European football, We'll get the latest from our | :03:46. | :03:52. | |
reporters in the England, Wales And it's a warm welcome | :03:53. | :04:02. | |
to Jermaine Jenas and John Hartson. It's taken 58 years but Wales | :04:03. | :04:11. | |
are back at a major tournament and the optimism surrounding | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
Chris Coleman's side is high. Nobody has led them to a finals | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
since Jimmy Murphy and the 1958 The current team has been developing | :04:19. | :04:21. | |
together for some time and everything came together | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
during an impressive qualifying It is emotional, yes, realising what | :04:27. | :04:46. | |
we have achieved, it is all very real. The place where we are is | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
amazing, the facilities, absolutely wonderful, they have done us proud. | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
The whole atmosphere is one, it is a positive one, we are happy to be | :04:57. | :05:06. | |
here. COMMENTATOR: Wales will head to Euro 2016 on the back of a | :05:07. | :05:12. | |
thumping defeat. I kind of second guessed it was going to be a tough | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
ask because we look at most of our players, they have not played for | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
four wigs, the performance was down to myself, I knew where we would be | :05:21. | :05:24. | |
physically -- weeks. We needed a game like that to get to where we | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
needed to be, and I was disappointed, but there is a bigger | :05:29. | :05:34. | |
picture that we are looking at. Robson Carluke picked up an injury | :05:35. | :05:38. | |
in Portugal which concerned us -- how Robson Carluke. He's a super | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
athlete, though, he did the session yesterday with the squad. He did | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
everything needed. Joe Allen looks good, no problems. You can sense how | :05:49. | :05:55. | |
much everyone wants to be here. Joe Ledley deserves to be here we were | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
never going to pick the squad and finalise it without giving him every | :06:00. | :06:07. | |
opportunity. Maybe it will be was unjust to say he complained 90 -- | :06:08. | :06:15. | |
campaign 90 minutes on Saturday, but he can play a part, he has done | :06:16. | :06:19. | |
brilliant. It is all about the first game, we have got to look at it like | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
that. It is new territory, we can only take you by the next game, we | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
have always done that in the next game. We are paying against Acer | :06:29. | :06:37. | |
Bacuna team, we will probably be favourites -- we are playing against | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
stuff it, they will be favourites in sales of their form and where they | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
are in the rankings, but we have got a point to prove -- we are playing | :06:46. | :06:53. | |
against Slovakia. I have been thinking about the game at the | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
weekend. I cannot think of anything else and I don't think of anything | :06:58. | :07:00. | |
else and that is what will be going through my thoughts. | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
Wales are in Group B alongside England. | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
Russia - winners of the first ever Euros back in 1960 - and Slovakia - | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
who beat world champions Germany in one of the warm-up matches - | :07:13. | :07:15. | |
Our man in the Wales camp for the tournament is Jason Mohammad | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
and he joins us from Dinard in Northern France. | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
Jason, there is a great deal of expectancy and excitement? Yes, very | :07:26. | :07:35. | |
good evening. The sun is shining, beautiful, I was at training today | :07:36. | :07:38. | |
and the players was so relaxed ahead of their first game against Slovakia | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
in Bordeaux. Local schoolchildren were invited, Gareth Bale had a | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
massive cheer when he ran out from the local children. There was a | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
wave, as well. Joe Ledley took a full part in training, so don't be | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
surprised if he has his name on the team sheet in some capacity in the | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
group games, and Andy King was talking about how the FA of Wales | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
have got this spot on in terms of finding this great location. They | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
are just a handful of Wales fans here, he says you can go around and | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
have a coffee, the players are very relaxed. But all over Wales, the | :08:16. | :08:22. | |
fans are heading in their numbers to Bordeaux. It looks like a lovely | :08:23. | :08:27. | |
spot, like Barry Island, but with sunshine. There is a relaxed mood, | :08:28. | :08:34. | |
Chris Coleman was chiefly exposing a possible team selection. -- | :08:35. | :08:42. | |
cheekily. Yes, it does resemble Barry Island, the ice cream is just | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
as good. Chris Coleman was pictured with a fantasy football team and I | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
get the feeling he is poking fun at Ray Lewington who has been in the | :08:53. | :08:55. | |
papers with a England formation ahead of their game against Russia | :08:56. | :09:02. | |
on Saturday. I imagine that that will only intensify over the next | :09:03. | :09:05. | |
couple of weeks as we look ahead to England against Wales. But we're not | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
about a dog about that, it is all about three points against Slovakia | :09:11. | :09:16. | |
in Bordeaux -- we are not allowed to talk about that. What a good job | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
Chris Coleman has done. He has done a remarkable job. We had waited so | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
long and we had Sony great managers that had not got over the line | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
before him, Terry RF, Gary speed, God rest his soul, John Toshack, | :09:33. | :09:39. | |
Mark Hughes. -- so many great. Chris Coleman has got to the holy Grail | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
and has got us over the line, especially in the circumstances when | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
he took the job, he was Murray close to Gary speed, and initially | :09:48. | :09:54. | |
disappointing results -- very close. We lost 6-1 against Serbia, but then | :09:55. | :10:00. | |
he got the players on board and then we had a remarkable qualification | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
campaign. The only conceded four goals, we were defensively | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
magnificent. Which player could be a star for Wales in this tournament, | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
and I came up with a young player from Real Madrid. He is so | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
explosive, he's also a team player, he will do his defensive duties and | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
when he gets into space and when he gets the opportunity to run at | :10:28. | :10:33. | |
players, he is unstoppable. Powerful in the air, look at that late, Alan | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
Shearer would have been proud of that. -- leap. Free kicks, dead ball | :10:39. | :10:45. | |
situations. This is him arriving in the box late. He has everything in | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
his locker, and that was a great finish. Seven goals in qualifying, | :10:51. | :10:58. | |
out of the 11, and the goals that he makes, as well, he's a great asset. | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
Every team needs a star but it is also about a togetherness, and | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
defensively they have been very strong, Wales. They have needed to | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
be, they came up against very tough opposition, and as important as | :11:16. | :11:18. | |
Gareth Bale is at the top end, they have Ashley Williams in the | :11:19. | :11:21. | |
defensive area. He is just as important. He had a great | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
qualification campaign for Wales. The back end of the season for | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
Swansea was a bit indifferent, but there was tiredness. A number of | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
examples here of him putting his body on the line. His distribution | :11:37. | :11:44. | |
goes unnoticed, I think, they are great tackles, but when he is on the | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
ball he calms them down, a lot of the time. Great recovery tackle | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
Blair. They will need him to have a good tournament. -- there. OK. | :11:55. | :12:01. | |
This is Roy Hodgson's third tournament as England manager. | :12:02. | :12:03. | |
It represents a chance to put things right after the disappointment | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
in Brazil two years ago where they failed to win a game. | :12:07. | :12:08. | |
Gabby Logan has been keeping a close eye on Roy's squad | :12:09. | :12:11. | |
This is Chantilly, the beating heart of French horse racing country, and | :12:12. | :12:30. | |
24 miles north of Paris here, where Roy Hodgson has chosen to stable his | :12:31. | :12:37. | |
thoroughbreds ahead of Euro 2016. England's arrival was low-key, the | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
reception cordial, but expectations as always are high. Despite winning | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
all ten qualifying games, pretournament friendlies offered | :12:47. | :12:49. | |
more questions than answers, it is now down to the manager to prepare | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
his players for the hurdles ahead. The feeling is great, more relaxed | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
than before, we have always had a good camaraderie but this is | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
different, the best I've experienced, even talking about | :13:04. | :13:06. | |
playing at clubs, as well, it's a strange feeling to be part of | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
something special. You come out here to try and impress, and against | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
Russia you want the shirt. We need to be professional, and if we don't | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
get the selection we need to show the togetherness as a team to cheer | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
the other lads on. Exciting times, a great young squad, with a bit of | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
experience, it is great to be involved. Each day the big kick-off | :13:28. | :13:36. | |
gets closer, the build-up and excitement is drawing near and we | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
are itching to go. We are at the mindset, this is our chance and it | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
is time to seize it and hopefully it ends in a very spectacular way. Some | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
players have not been in major tournaments before, and you have got | :13:51. | :13:53. | |
to enjoy the moment, because not many people get the chance to come | :13:54. | :13:56. | |
to major tournaments. They are fresh faces in the squad but we have known | :13:57. | :14:02. | |
each other mainly for long periods, whether that is in the under age | :14:03. | :14:05. | |
groups, so on the whole we get on very well and that makes it easier | :14:06. | :14:09. | |
when you are spending 24 hours a day together. You said last week when | :14:10. | :14:14. | |
you were asked who you would follow on Twitter in the squad, use a Jamie | :14:15. | :14:21. | |
Vardy, is he that interesting? -- you said Jamie Vardy. Yes, yes. He | :14:22. | :14:28. | |
is an interesting fella. After a few more days I might actually start | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
following him. LAUGHTER England will move from their base in | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
the northern countryside to the Mediterranean coast for their first | :14:38. | :14:41. | |
test against Russia in Marseille. Will they falter at the first or can | :14:42. | :14:43. | |
they go the distance this time? And Gabby joins us from Chantilly | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
just 30 miles north of Paris. I believe everything is pretty | :14:49. | :14:58. | |
relaxed, rather like it wasn't four years ago? Good evening. Yes, | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
everything is very relaxed, last night we went out for some food in | :15:04. | :15:09. | |
Chantilly. The coaching staff were at pains to say how fit everybody | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
was and today we saw a group of players wandering through the town | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
and it's a real horse racing town. They hardly turn their heads when a | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
footballer walks by but there is a genuine feeling of a relaxed | :15:23. | :15:25. | |
atmosphere like an crack of four years ago. Very different to 2010 in | :15:26. | :15:31. | |
South Africa. That suits Roy and certainly his players. It looks | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
rubbish there! Are you actually up to your waist in water? It is | :15:37. | :15:42. | |
slightly deceptive. I can't tell you how stunning it is. There are | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
waterways all over, it is beautiful, used to be the holiday home of the | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
King of France, not this place but Chantilly itself. We are not in the | :15:52. | :15:56. | |
posh end. It is stunning where they are staying. It is a cross between | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
Newmarket and Bath and the best of The Cotswolds rolled together. Tell | :16:02. | :16:07. | |
me about the fluffy lion. Chris Smalling travelled with it and he | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
says that Joe Hart is now in charge. We think there may be forfeit going | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
on for not looking it properly! I'm sure we will find out through the | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
tournament. It reminds me of the song titles at Euro 96. I am sure we | :16:21. | :16:27. | |
will learn more about it as the tournament goes on. Chris Smalling | :16:28. | :16:34. | |
was quite funny about it. I can't imagine Fabio Capello allowing a | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
lion to dominate in 2010, can you? A lot of debate about the setup, | :16:39. | :16:45. | |
4-3-3, and all sorts of different setups, 4-4-2 even with a diamond. | :16:46. | :16:51. | |
How will he do it? I hope he goes with a 4-3- 2-1. He's not really | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
done though. It is only really less to run Watford who don't... Who play | :16:58. | :17:03. | |
4-4-2. That is how I would like them setup. The left side has always been | :17:04. | :17:08. | |
an issue since they lost well back. Rooney played there for 30 minutes | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
against Portugal. Last week. He can do a job, but I feel that is how | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
most of the players will be comfortable playing. They play like | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
that week in week out. He has to improve the partnership between Kane | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
and Dele Alli like they have at their club? Yes, look at the | :17:29. | :17:35. | |
chemistry they have, when Dele Alli gets the ball Harry Kane just makes | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
his runs without looking and half the time Dele Alli finds him. | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
Unbelievable talent since joining from MK Dons. His rise has been | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
phenomenal. Lovely positions on the half turn and again, as we | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
mentioned, Harry Kane gets on his bike as he knows what's coming. This | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
was special because, don't get me wrong, quick thinking, but both of | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
you have to be thinking the same thing for it to work, there is no | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
point just one of you doing it. These are just a few clips that we | :18:08. | :18:11. | |
have picked out but we know having watched Spurs this season how | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
important this is, how important they have been to the Tottenham | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
season. For me, you have deeper Dele Alli in that position to give the | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
support to the likes of Harry Kane. You will get the best out of Harry | :18:26. | :18:29. | |
Kane if Dele Alli is further up the pitch. It is obviously difficult for | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
Roy, lots of decisions and talented players but hopefully he plays Dele | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
Alli just behind Harry Kane. Good problems, who to pick because of the | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
talent upfront. Defensively everyone is worried? They have two solid | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
full-backs in water and Rose, they will provide more width and play in | :18:51. | :18:55. | |
the opposition half. Then it is whether you go with Smalling, who | :18:56. | :18:58. | |
has had a knock this week, or Cahill. Or stones. Personally I | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
would go with Smalling and stones, he is ready made for a big | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
tournament and he has shown he is good enough. We will find out | :19:08. | :19:09. | |
shortly. You can follow England and Wales' | :19:10. | :19:11. | |
opening games across the BBC. Wales kick things off in Group B | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
taking on Slovakia on Saturday Then England take on Russia - | :19:15. | :19:16. | |
commentary on 5Live at 8 And if you fancy forecasting | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
the scores for these matches and all the other games | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
in the tournament, head to the BBC Sport website | :19:27. | :19:29. | |
and play our new predictor game. If Wales have waited over 50 years | :19:30. | :19:32. | |
to reach a major tournament, it's been just 30 for Northern | :19:33. | :19:35. | |
Ireland. The success of Michael O'Neill's | :19:36. | :19:39. | |
side seems to have come from nowhere but they have a number | :19:40. | :19:42. | |
of experienced pros and could cause Qualification over what is | :19:43. | :19:56. | |
essentially a 14 month period with ten tough games, to only lose one | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
game and subsequently be unbeaten since then gives me great confidence | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
obviously that we are in good shape. There is a lot of players now that | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
have got accustomed to playing international football, they are | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
coming in in a good frame of mind, coming into a team where they are | :20:16. | :20:19. | |
getting results. They are ranked higher than they've ever been. And | :20:20. | :20:24. | |
they are the group winners as well. When you put all of those into the | :20:25. | :20:27. | |
next then hopefully if you're not going to have belief you're never | :20:28. | :20:31. | |
going to have it, and you will face a tough group. We are aiming to | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
spring a few surprises and hopefully we can get beyond the group stages. | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
How important is the opening game of the campaign for Northern Ireland? | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
It's essential when you are a small country, you need to be able to get | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
momentum and belief in the squad and it can rise dramatically. I look at | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
our squad after three straight qualifying wins and it was a | :20:55. | :20:57. | |
different group of players. They had evolved into a different group of | :20:58. | :21:01. | |
players in a very short space of time. If we can win the opening game | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
or certainly not lose, you put yourself in the situation of winning | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
one of the other two games and you can qualify. This is a good bunch of | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
players, very genuine. A humble bunch of players as well. We would | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
hope that we would be everyone's other team, to be honest, Leicester | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
got that level of support from everyone else in the Premier League | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
and everybody genuinely outside their own team wanted Leicester to | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
win. There is an honesty in our team, very hard-working. There is no | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
lack of quality either, I don't want people to think that it's a | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
one-dimensional team who will be difficult to beat and hard-working, | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
at the end of the day we were the top goal-scorers in our group, | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
scoring 18 goals in ten games. It is most important that those are the | :21:51. | :21:55. | |
qualities that will keep us competitive. | :21:56. | :21:58. | |
Northern Ireland are in Group C and play their opening match | :21:59. | :22:00. | |
Then it's a trip to Lyon to play Ukraine, followed | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
by World Champions Germany here in Paris. | :22:06. | :22:12. | |
Saint-Georges-de-Reneins, just north of Lyon, is their base | :22:13. | :22:14. | |
and Stephen Watson is our man with the team... | :22:15. | :22:17. | |
There must be great euphoria and excitement in the Northern Irish | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
camp? Absolutely, Gary. Northern Ireland arrived as the inform team, | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
unbeaten in 12 games, the best record out of any side at Euro 2016. | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
Yes, Northern Ireland don't have many major stars in their side, just | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
five English Premier League players for example, but they do have a | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
belief, a bond, and they are hard to beat. In their last 20 games they | :22:43. | :22:47. | |
have only conceded one first half goal which gives them the ability to | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
stay in matches, only losing one in 11 games and on that occasion | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
without their captain Steven Davies. That shows you the importance of | :22:57. | :23:02. | |
their captain, they have topped their group in qualifying and they | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
say they have momentum and no fear. You are making me believe they can | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
win! There is a doubt over Kyle Lafferty, their striker? Yes. The | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
Northern Ireland captain insists that he will be fit, and he gave a | :23:19. | :23:21. | |
thumbs up on social media today to say that the results on a scan on | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
his groin were positive and he would be fit to play Poland on Sunday but | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
the pictures perhaps tell a different story, in a lot of pain | :23:32. | :23:34. | |
when it happened and did not train today and he is still walking | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
gingerly. Seven goals in qualifying were instrumental in helping | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
Northern Ireland reach their first-ever European Championship | :23:45. | :23:46. | |
finals and we will be guessing for a little longer whether he will be | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
100% fit to play this weekend. Thanks. Northern Ireland have done | :23:50. | :23:56. | |
marvellously to get here, great form, 12 unbeaten and a togetherness | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
of spirit? Yes, and good players. They have the underdog tag which has | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
helped them, but they have got experience, Jonny Evans at the back, | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
Kyle Lafferty coming up trumps and scoring goals for them. Of course | :24:11. | :24:13. | |
Chris Brunt is unfortunately not here. Michael O'Neill has done a | :24:14. | :24:22. | |
fantastic job, as I said, McGovern in gold, very young goalkeeper who | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
was at Celtic like myself. Davies had a great season for Southampton, | :24:29. | :24:35. | |
ex-Rangers. He has had a really good season, and a very nice footballer, | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
Steven Davies. Sometimes very underrated, Steven Davies, he has | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
always gone about his business from when he was a young lad at Villa and | :24:45. | :24:49. | |
then at Rangers and now Southampton. I feel like he's had a really good | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
season at Southampton, he is one of those midfielders who can play | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
anywhere, technically very gifted. He goes past players and can see a | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
pass, and for the Northern Ireland signed he might as well be renowned | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
though because the players around him are not at his level, with all | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
respect, they are just not, he is a top end Premier League player and | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
they do all they can to get the best out of Steven Davies, and that is | :25:16. | :25:18. | |
one of their really good traits that I hope they can focus on and enable | :25:19. | :25:27. | |
them to do what they are capable of. Countries like Northern Ireland | :25:28. | :25:30. | |
can't afford to lose their best players, Kyle Lafferty is a doubt. | :25:31. | :25:35. | |
They need him fit. Yes, and they don't have that long to do it. But | :25:36. | :25:42. | |
he is a good player. He has done very well, because he wasn't playing | :25:43. | :25:48. | |
club football, so whenever he was going away at international level it | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
was like he was getting gametime with international football. Seven | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
goals, the same as Gareth Bale, and he is a real hero for them. He could | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
be if he scores one or two more. In Northern Ireland's way | :26:01. | :26:03. | |
are World Champions Germany. Joachim Low's side are not | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
in the greatest of form, Schurrle working it in. There was | :26:07. | :26:26. | |
only one team in Brazil that deserves to win. Germany rules the | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
world again. It took some of the disasters of Euro 2000 and 2004 to | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
realise that what they did before was not right. The big role model in | :26:36. | :26:42. | |
that is Spain, Spain is what we all look at. How can they be so | :26:43. | :26:48. | |
consistent and so hungry? It is now a big opportunity for the German | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
side to say, we have youth but it takes more than that. Schurrle. It | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
is seven. This German team now finds way to add even more quality. We | :26:59. | :27:05. | |
have a very young squad. We have a good mix of experienced players. We | :27:06. | :27:14. | |
are world champions. We are aiming to win the Euros. The Euros will be | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
a good benchmark for the up-and-coming players to see how | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
aggressive they are to go for the title as well. I think Germany have | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
enough to win this competition but they might not have this total drive | :27:30. | :27:35. | |
and 100% dedication that they had at the World Cup. It really was a sense | :27:36. | :27:44. | |
of now or never. Joachim Low has been in charge of Germany for ten | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
years and has done a pretty good job, culminating in winning the | :27:49. | :27:52. | |
World Cup. Can they be like Spain and dominate for a while? I think | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
they can. They looked brilliant in the qualifiers, they lost to the | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
Republic, so for me they still have good players, Thomas Muller is a | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
good player, Joachim Low has had this group for pretty much ten years | :28:09. | :28:12. | |
which is a long time for an international manager. In the last | :28:13. | :28:15. | |
five major tournaments Germany have either reached the semifinal or the | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
final. They keep doing it, don't they? It would be foolish to rule | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
them out. We never would, that's for sure. Thomas Muller is a quirky | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
individual, proven goal-scorer. He doesn't always look like a | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
footballer but he delivers. He is quirky, playing on the right for | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
Bayern Munich and Germany but they rely on him heavily for goals. | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
Without Klose they don't have that out and out striker that they | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
probably miss. He is one of those strikers, midfielders, whatever you | :28:48. | :28:51. | |
call him, always in the right place at the right time and that is a gift | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
in itself. He is hard on the eye, but it doesn't matter. You know | :28:57. | :29:01. | |
yourself that that is what matters, putting it in the net. That is why | :29:02. | :29:06. | |
he is so important to the team. They have obviously been phenomenal but | :29:07. | :29:10. | |
he is a big part of the reason. He certainly is. | :29:11. | :29:12. | |
Both Northern Ireland and Germany's opening games will be on the BBC. | :29:13. | :29:15. | |
One of the favourites for the trophy alongside Germany are hosts France. | :29:16. | :29:27. | |
They have an exceptional squad of real depth and quality | :29:28. | :29:30. | |
with genuine hope that the home nation can repeat its | :29:31. | :29:33. | |
France's history with the Euros goes way back to the start, we lost in | :29:34. | :29:51. | |
the first tournament in 1960. In 1984 France hosted the Euros again | :29:52. | :30:01. | |
-- we hosted the first tournament. The Euros are almost here again, the | :30:02. | :30:04. | |
first time we have hosted a tournament since the World Cup in | :30:05. | :30:09. | |
1998. I was 12 when I was watching TV, I was dreaming, that hopefully | :30:10. | :30:16. | |
one day I could be on that pitch and do the same thing as them. In 1998 | :30:17. | :30:21. | |
we were known as a team who will not conceding, very hard to beat, and in | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
2000 it was the right mix, and we had a man who could make a | :30:28. | :30:32. | |
difference at any time. Euro 2016 is bigger than ever, with the final in | :30:33. | :30:39. | |
Paris, in Stade de France, but last year the stadium was a target for | :30:40. | :30:46. | |
attacks by terrorists. It was a very sad moment, very difficult. What | :30:47. | :30:53. | |
happened in November. It will be nice to win for those victims. | :30:54. | :31:01. | |
France is facing a problem, socially, at the security level, we | :31:02. | :31:08. | |
need football to be there for us, to have hope, this is something very | :31:09. | :31:14. | |
important. There is a lot of expectation around the French | :31:15. | :31:16. | |
national team, but that is normal, it is a big tournament. I feel the | :31:17. | :31:23. | |
pressure, that the players must experience, and it is great, this is | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
where you see the top player who can attract this pressure and roll it | :31:28. | :31:34. | |
and bring it to performance, and I hope they will be able to do it. We | :31:35. | :31:39. | |
need to go step-by-step and try to win our first game and then after in | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
football everything is possible, you need to believe. We have a good | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
side, some young players are fantastic. I think we have to get | :31:50. | :31:56. | |
that winning mentality. We have won the last two home competitions. So | :31:57. | :32:07. | |
maybe we can do it. France open up proceedings on Friday night, the | :32:08. | :32:16. | |
first match of the tournament. There is always pressure on the hosts, but | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
also the advantage of having the home crowd. Of course. England won | :32:21. | :32:26. | |
their only major tournament at home at Wembley. Thanks for reminding us. | :32:27. | :32:33. | |
France have won the European Championships in 1984 and the World | :32:34. | :32:38. | |
Cup in 1998 and they thrive under the pressure of being the host | :32:39. | :32:42. | |
nation. They have got lots of star players, right throughout their | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
squad. No Benzema, but Griezmann has had a great time this season. He's a | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
special talent, Griezmann, he has come to the forefront for Atletico, | :32:53. | :32:58. | |
he plays on the right-hand side, he can play behind the striker and he | :32:59. | :33:01. | |
to drop deep and dictate games and break defences. For Francie has been | :33:02. | :33:09. | |
a big part of the way they play, he makes runs behind defences and | :33:10. | :33:11. | |
creates opportunities for his team-mates -- for France he has | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
been. A very skilful player and he is rated very highly by Didier | :33:18. | :33:22. | |
Deschamp. That touch shows real class, he makes it look easy but it | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
isn't. He's not renowned for that, but he's more than capable. A | :33:27. | :33:29. | |
special talent they have within their ranks, something for Didier | :33:30. | :33:34. | |
Deschamp to be very happy about. Didier Deschamp lifted the trophy as | :33:35. | :33:39. | |
a player in 1998. Can he lead the team? Yes, he has a great group of | :33:40. | :33:46. | |
players. The likes of Paul Pogba, one of the most sought after young | :33:47. | :33:49. | |
players in the world right now. Dimitri Payet lit up the Premier | :33:50. | :33:55. | |
League last season. And then Griezmann. They are the favourites | :33:56. | :34:00. | |
for me. I think they have a great chance. What about the nation, they | :34:01. | :34:06. | |
will get behind them? The first game is very important, if they get off | :34:07. | :34:09. | |
to a good start with a good performance, the nation will get | :34:10. | :34:10. | |
behind them. The Republic of Ireland | :34:11. | :34:12. | |
have one of the toughest groups featuring Belgium, | :34:13. | :34:14. | |
Italy and Sweden - a challenge for their management duo | :34:15. | :34:16. | |
of Roy Keane and Martin O'Neill. From the outside looking in, | :34:17. | :34:32. | |
everyone thought yourself and Roy Keane would be a strange mixture, | :34:33. | :34:37. | |
why does it work? At this moment, I can speak from a position of | :34:38. | :34:40. | |
strength because we have qualified, but if we had not qualified people | :34:41. | :34:46. | |
would say it did not work. We meet each other occasionally outside, but | :34:47. | :34:50. | |
we don't socialise. Women go into the camp, we are there to work, -- | :34:51. | :34:56. | |
when we go into the camp. These players would have had Roy Keane as | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
their hero, and I can say it has worked because we have qualified, if | :35:01. | :35:03. | |
we hadn't it would have been the biggest disaster of all time. The | :35:04. | :35:10. | |
player 's job is to give the manager a headache, sometimes we make | :35:11. | :35:13. | |
excuses for players, they have not played much football club but they | :35:14. | :35:17. | |
are still training and you can get physically in good shape, and you | :35:18. | :35:20. | |
can lack match sharpness, but you have got to get yourself in a good | :35:21. | :35:24. | |
state. You are playing international football, controlled the bloody | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
ball, pass and move and if you lose it, run back. And run back like you | :35:29. | :35:37. | |
care. Qualification was great, but that is in the past, what we want to | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
do is go in and be as strong as we possibly can and we want to be as | :35:43. | :35:49. | |
ready as we can for every eventuality and that we leave no | :35:50. | :35:52. | |
stone unturned in terms of preparation. | :35:53. | :35:55. | |
The Republic get Group E underway against Zlatan | :35:56. | :35:57. | |
Belgium face Italy in the evening match. | :35:58. | :36:05. | |
A boost for the Republic of Ireland, the news that there is an extension | :36:06. | :36:11. | |
to the contracts of Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane, who had done a good | :36:12. | :36:17. | |
job together. Great job. They have got very good individuals, but it | :36:18. | :36:20. | |
was about bringing them together and they have done that. For Martin | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
O'Neill and Roy Keane, it is all good news that they will be there | :36:25. | :36:27. | |
for another couple of years. They lost all three games four years ago | :36:28. | :36:33. | |
in the Euros and Roy Keane has been trying to Stoke them up. He has made | :36:34. | :36:38. | |
an impact. They have qualified through the play-offs, beating | :36:39. | :36:42. | |
Bosnia. They are there on merit, and they will need to do better than | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
they did in 2012, not winning a single game. It was a tough group. | :36:48. | :36:55. | |
Belgium, Italy. Vincent Kompany will be working in the studio for us. And | :36:56. | :37:00. | |
also Sweden and Ibrahimovic, quite possibly his last tournament. Yes, | :37:01. | :37:07. | |
quite possibly. Only one thing we need to say about him, it is all in | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
this clip, great technique. He's a world star, and he had a great | :37:12. | :37:18. | |
season at Paris Saint-Germain. He will be very welcome in this | :37:19. | :37:24. | |
country. He is a huge talent. From one superstar to another. | :37:25. | :37:32. | |
COMMENTATOR: Ronaldo! Magnificently taken goal. Ronaldo has timed his | :37:33. | :37:47. | |
run and he has got his goal. Wonderful movement. He took his time | :37:48. | :37:57. | |
and picked his spot. He has done it. Could it be his tournament? | :37:58. | :38:02. | |
Ronaldo and Portugal are in Group F alongside Austria, | :38:03. | :38:05. | |
Hungry and Iceland but have to wait until Tuesday to get | :38:06. | :38:08. | |
With Ronaldo, has he got a good enough team with him to get him the | :38:09. | :38:19. | |
important national victory? That is what it has always been about, it is | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
not so much about his age. He's a good age and he keeps himself fit, | :38:25. | :38:27. | |
but is there enough coming through the ranks to him get there? He will | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
be doing everything he can to get them to another final. He has missed | :38:32. | :38:37. | |
out in one final, losing against Greece, but we will see. He will be | :38:38. | :38:39. | |
hoping he can. Certainly well. Last, but certainly not least, | :38:40. | :38:44. | |
are the defending champions Spain. La Liga boasts the winners of both | :38:45. | :38:46. | |
the Champions League and Europa league, but as for their national | :38:47. | :38:49. | |
team, they need to up their game In 2008 no one expected us to win | :38:50. | :39:01. | |
and in 2010 everyone expected us to win. We went to the Euros in 2012 | :39:02. | :39:11. | |
and you won it again. How was it, approaching the third one? At the | :39:12. | :39:18. | |
three tournaments, we felt, at least myself, I felt more dominant and | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
more confident and I think as a team we played fantastically well. | :39:24. | :39:27. | |
COMMENTATOR: They are appealing for offside, but it is four! Records | :39:28. | :39:37. | |
tumbling all around us. Spain are out and the group stage has not even | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
finished yet. You failed at the World Cup, and now you have got to | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
prove that was a mistake. What about this one? You have two approach it | :39:48. | :39:53. | |
in a way that you have two prove a point, not just to people who were | :39:54. | :39:57. | |
disappointed with us at the World Cup, but also for ourselves, the way | :39:58. | :40:01. | |
we went out and the way we played, we felt we were not ourselves and | :40:02. | :40:05. | |
now we have to prove this point without the likes of Xavi. The likes | :40:06. | :40:14. | |
of Iniesta and myself and Silva, we have got to step forward. We have | :40:15. | :40:20. | |
some young players pushing up like Alvaro Morata and cocoa. It is | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
important. -- Koke. Spain are in Group D, | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
alongside Turkey, Croatia Turkey face Croatia on Sunday, | :40:30. | :40:32. | |
Spain start the following day. Eight out of 11 of the starting | :40:33. | :40:47. | |
line-up from four years ago, it is just a question of whether they are | :40:48. | :40:50. | |
going slightly over the top, that great group of players. The | :40:51. | :40:55. | |
qualification campaign was not as confident as we would normally see | :40:56. | :40:58. | |
from Spain, and there could be questions, but if you look at the | :40:59. | :41:01. | |
Champions League final, two Spanish teams. And the players that you | :41:02. | :41:08. | |
named who played in the last European Championship final, what a | :41:09. | :41:11. | |
squad they have. Just phenomenal. You cannot underestimate what they | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
have got in their ranks, they are one to look out for. Possible | :41:17. | :41:23. | |
witnesses, the central striker position, but Alvaro Morata has come | :41:24. | :41:29. | |
through? -- possible witnesses. He has got to step up and be a similar | :41:30. | :41:33. | |
player to David Villa, lively and gets goals. They still have great | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
players. I don't think they will be far away. They have a group that you | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
would think they would comfortably qualify from. You would think so. | :41:44. | :41:49. | |
Croatia could be tricky, they have talented players, but what they have | :41:50. | :41:52. | |
at their disposal, I expect them to go through the group very | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
comfortably, but that is the only game they will find difficult. | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
Looking at the tournament. Will it be open and free flowing? We hope | :42:02. | :42:08. | |
so. So many games. The group games, the first couple of weeks, three | :42:09. | :42:15. | |
games every day, but France, they enjoy playing on home soil, they | :42:16. | :42:18. | |
have proven that with the tournaments they have won in the | :42:19. | :42:22. | |
past and we know about Germany, how far can England go? I think it would | :42:23. | :42:27. | |
be a great tournament. You fancy France, but what about you? I have | :42:28. | :42:34. | |
gone with France most of the time, but England, who knows? Leicester | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
won the league. Did you just say England? Truly very bold. Well, | :42:41. | :42:49. | |
Leicester won Billy, so we will say. -- won the league. What a great way | :42:50. | :42:52. | |
to finish. That's all from us - | :42:53. | :42:54. | |
just want you to point towards the BBC Match | :42:55. | :42:57. | |
of the Day Snapchat. Jermaine will be posting | :42:58. | :42:59. | |
on there everyday giving a flavour We'll be back on Friday | :43:00. | :43:01. | |
as the tournament gets underway On July 10th, who will be lifting | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
the trophy and add their name COMMENTATOR: They have done it, | :43:06. | :43:46. | |
France are European champions! I say, what a goal! France are won the | :43:47. | :44:01. | |
European Championship! Spain are the European champions. | :44:02. | :44:04. |