The 2020 European Championships are about to finally get underway, a solid year after originally scheduled. Despite the delay and the pandemic (effect-cause), UEFA have kept to their original plans of a distributed hosting scheme, with no fewer than eleven (11!) countries and a dozen cities involved, including the UK (London, Glasgow), Germany (Munich), Italy (Rome), Spain (Seville), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Denmark (Copenhagen), Hungary (Budapest), Romania (Bucharest), Azerbaijan (Baku), and Russia (Saint Petersburg).
What could possibly go wrong? (Dublin was originally set to host, but Ireland refused to guarantee fans given the COVID situation, so UEFA ditched them in favor of Saint Petersburg.)
In any case, the opening match, a quarter-full Stadio Olimpico in Rome, will feature Turkey and Italy. Italy especially will be looking to continue their resurgence after the shock of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Jorginho is expected to start, and Emerson could as well. Italy should be the clear favorites, though Turkey’s ageless talisman, Burak Yilmaz, just powered Lille to a most surprising French title, at the most hilarious expense of Pochettino’s PSG. You can take the boy out of Spurs…
UPDATE: Jorginho starts!
I won’t really be watching this game, but here’s how you can:
TURKEY vs. ITALY
Date / Time: Friday, June 11, 2021, 20:00 BST; 3pm EDT
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
On TV: BBC One (UK); ESPN, Univision, TUDN (USA); elsewhere
Streaming online: BBC iPlayer (UK); ESPN+, Univision Now (USA) — We (WAGNH) have an affiliate link for ESPN+ if you’re in the US and would like to sign up for the best value in sports streaming (or, if you’re like me, sign up for the Disney-Hulu-ESPN+ bundle, which has gone up in price by a dollar but is still worth it). We also have a Fubo TV affiliate link, if you’re so inclined.