The UEFA Euro 2020 has finally started and Italy begins the tournament in a formidable way: the team coached by Roberto Mancini beats Turkey 3-0 in the inaugurational match without any difficulties.

The italian team started playing offensively from the very beginning, the first chance, instead, arrived twenty minutes later when Giorgio Chiellini’s header was saved by Cakir after a corner kick (22′). Even though the Azzurri kept attacking and dominated the game with 14:0 shots on target the Turks were able to handle the italian forwards pretty well. That way, the first half ended without any goals.

In fact, Turkey had also some luck a few seconds before the first 45 minutes were over: Celik touched the ball with his arm inside of the penalty area, but no VAR check was needed from the referee’s point of view.

In the second half when both coaches decided to execute a change on the pitch, Cengiz Ünder tested Gianluigi Donnarumma for the first time with a too unprecise shot from a pointed angle (51′). The earned advantage of Italy arrived a few instants later: Berardi advanced on the right side with a lot of space and crossed in the middle. No italian player catches the ball but Merih Demiral who placed the ball very unluckily inside of the own net (0-1). For the first time in Eurocup’s history, the first goal of the tournament was an owngoal.

The goal, of course made Italy gain a lof of confidence for the rest of the game. Especially Spinazzola made a lot of running on the wing, forcing Cakir several times to great saves. In one case, the ball landed directly in front of Ciro Immobile who scored the second goal of the evening (66′). Trabzonspor’s goalkeeper could not stand a chance (0-2). While the first two goals were linked to two very unlucky situations for the Turks, the third goal was literally a present for Mancini’s team. Cakir executes a clearance from his net in a really bad way and Lorenzo Insigne thanks immediately with another goal for Italy (79′) leading 0-3.

All in all it was a great performance by Italy who lived up to their role as favorites.

It was supposed to start 12 months earlier than now due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, under several hygenic and safety conditions, the European Championship can finally start. The best teams all around the continent will fight in order to bring home the trophy, as Portugal did five years ago. The tournament will get underway this evening starting with the match between Italy and Turkey at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

It has been a difficult year for any football fan. Several matches and entire competitions have been postponed or even cancelled due to coronavirus. Now, UEFA and the single football associations of each country have embedded a strategy to start Euro 2021 which will take place between today, Friday June 11th, and Sunday, July 11th, 2021. It will be a huge honor for Italy and Turkey to play the inaugurational match of the tournament. The italian team is motivated after missing the last major competition in 2018, while the turkish squad hopes to do better than in 2016 when they went home after the group stage. Once the first day is over, next up will the second match of Group A between Wales and Switzerland (tomorrow, 3 pm), followed by Denmark vs. Finland (6 pm) and Belgium vs. Russia in the evening (9 pm).

As people already know, this time UEFA will dispute the tournament in several countries and cities. Here is an overview:

12 countries (England, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Denmark, Italy, Azerbaijan, Russia, Ireland and Scotland) are the hosts of Euro 2020 and in total 12 stadiums will be used in the tournament.

  • Stadio Olimpico, Rome 
  • Olympic Stadium, Baku 
  • St Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg 
  • Parken Stadium, Copenhagen 
  • Puskás Arena, Budapest
  • Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam 
  • National Arena, Bucharest 
  • Wembley Stadium, London 
  • Hampden Park, Glasgow 
  • Estadio de San Mames, Bilbao
  • Dublin Arena, Dublin
  • Fußball Arena Munchen, Munich

This edition of the European Championship will definitely be different from the previous ones. But maybe that is exactly what will render it even more special.