the favorite Blues, King Lewandowski, Austrian ambition… Group D under the microscope

Favorite of its group, France will however not have a joker to burn in a group that is tougher than it seems.

At Euro 2021, the Blues inherited the group of death, which did not prevent them from finishing first in their group. This time, the draw turned out to be more lenient for France, but be careful of unpleasant surprises. Obviously, the Tricolores will be wary of the Netherlands above all. After a long crossing of the desert in the 2010s, the Orange find colors.

Eighth finalists of Euro 2021, quarter-finalists of the 2022 World Cup, the Dutch must now take a step forward against the big nations. Another opponent for the Blues: Poland, whom they beat in the round of 16 of the last World Cup. Still led by Robert Lewandowski, the Poles qualified with difficulty, via the play-offs. Finally, we will have to take Austria seriously, second in its qualifying group, just behind Belgium, and capable of beating Germany (2-0) in November, or of crushing Turkey (6-1) in March.

The player: Robert Lewandowski

At almost 36 years old, Robert Lewandowski is probably playing his last major competition with Poland. If the FC Barcelona striker has won everything at club, notably during his years at Bayern Munich, his record is much less stellar in the selection, with a quarter-final at Euro 2016 and a round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup. that his team has had four coaches in three years, the Barcelona player is the captain of a selection with which he wants to make an impression before retiring. Note, however, that the Polish striker is out of his team’s first match against the Netherlands due to a knee injury.

The figure: 3 finals out of 4

It’s well known that everything moves very quickly in football. So, when approaching this Euro, let’s remember that in the last four major competitions, the French team has played in three finals: the lost ones of Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup, and of course the one won in 2018. In the meantime, the Blues were eliminated in the round of 16 of Euro 2021 by Switzerland.

Euro and World Cup combined, France has played in seven finals (1984, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2016, 2018, 2022), including three in 8 years. Qualified for all major competitions since 1996 (eight European Championships, seven World Cups), France has not been eliminated from a group since the Knysna fiasco (South Africa) in 2010, that is to say six consecutive competitions.

The surprise: Austria

It’s not the loudest name in the group but, for their third consecutive Euro, Austria looks great. Built around Marcel Sabitzer and Konrad Laimer – two elements of Bayern Munich – the Austrian eleven relies on many seasoned Bundesliga players, like Christoph Baumgartner (Leipzig).

All orchestrated by Ralf Rangnick, former coach of Manchester United and brain of the Red Bull football project, capable of sublimating this collective which had been eliminated in the round of 16 of Euro 2021 by Italy (the future winner), in extension. Three years later, Austria can do at least as well.

The anecdote to shine: why do the Netherlands play in orange?

This is a question that you will ask yourself, or that you will inevitably be asked on June 21, the evening of France-Netherlands. So, here’s the answer: the Dutch have adopted orange as their national color since its creation in the 16th century, after the revolt led by William of Nassau. The latter had in fact become Prince of Orange (Vaucluse) in 1544, attaching this title to his name. The Dutch jersey therefore refers, indirectly, to the city of Orange whose motto “I will maintain” is also that of the Netherlands. Note that until 1575, the Dutch flag had an orange stripe, later replaced by red.

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