With confidence soaring after a string of high-scoring friendly displays, UEFA EURO 2016 hosts France touched down at Le Bourget airport in the northern Paris suburbs on Sunday afternoon.While the weather was cloudy, the outlook is sunny for coach Didier Deschamps, who led the squad off the plane and on to a team bus that bears the slogan "Your strength, our passion".Sucking a lollipop, Laurent Koscielny was one of the first down the plane's steps, along with Arsenal colleague Olivier Giroud, his fellow scorer in Saturday evening's comprehensive 3-0 victory over Scotland in their final warm-up game in Metz.Giroud's double made it seven goals in four outings. The 29-ye...
Football Update
Netherlands condemn Austria to defeat
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UEFA EURO reporter’s view: Northern Ireland
Squad analysisOff the pitch, Michael O'Neill has cultivated a special 'club spirit'. On it, he boasts experienced players in key areas, epitomised by captain Steven Davis and defenders Jonny Evans, Gareth McAuley and Craig Cathcart. Crucially, he is also getting the best out of the likes of Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest), Conor McLaughlin (Fleetwood Town), Oliver Norwood (Reading) and Stuart Dallas (Leeds United). His only question mark? The left side of defence after losing Chris Brunt to a serious knee injury in February.One to watchThe influential Davis and forward Kyle Lafferty, who scored seven goals in qualifying, are the obvious an...
Deschamps keyed up for France’s big moment
France's 47-year-old coach has been doing his best not to talk about his successes as a player at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2000 as he prepares a new generation to sparkle on home soil at UEFA EURO 2016.UEFA.com: With no competitive games since the 2014 World Cup finals, has it been hard to keep your players motivated?Didier Deschamps: No, it hasn't. We play every match to win, even when it's a friendly. We've had prestigious matches against the top sides in Europe; we know it's no substitute for competitive football, but that's what finals hosts have to face for two years. It's about setting different targets. It allows you grea...
Smalling header ensures England beat Portugal
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UEFA EURO reporter’s view: Belgium
Squad analysisMissing out on injured captain Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Lombaerts – the favoured central defensive duo – leaves some puzzling for coach Marc Wilmots. If that issue is resolved satisfactorily, moments of magic from the likes of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, as well as Romelu Lukaku up front, could make Belgium a force to be reckoned with.One to watchAtlético Madrid's 22-year-old winger Yannick Carrasco has only racked up four caps since his debut in March last year, but Wilmots likes his speed and depth. Carrasco becoming the first Belgian to score in a UEFA Champions League final only increases his chances of ma...
All 24 UEFA EURO 2016 squads confirmed
© 1998-2016 UEFA. All rights reserved. The UEFA word, the UEFA logo and all marks related to UEFA competitions, are protected by trademarks and/or copyright of UEFA. No use for commercial purposes may be made of such trademarks. Use of UEFA.com signifies your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. ...