Euro 2016: Football Q & As (Part One)

Anna Kessel

Anna Kessel is a sports writer for the Guardian and the Observer. She is also the co-founder and chair of Women in Football.  Her new book, Eat, Sweat, Play , is a brilliant call to arms for women in sport.

Peter Chapman

Peter Chapman is the author of Out Of Time which  tells the story of the summer prior to England’s 50 years of hurt through his 18-year-old eyes, and offers a vivid and beautifully written portrait of what life was like in 1966 when the nation’s football team reached the pinnacle of world football

England v Yugoslavia, Florence, Euro 68 semi-final. Alan Mullery’s sending off. First ever England player to be sent off; manager Sir Alf Ramsey sympathised at injustice of it and paid Mullery’s £60 fine.

What is your favourite European Championship match?

France v Italy, Euro 2000 final; 2-1 to France, who equalised in last minute of lengthy time added and won with ‘golden goal’ in extra time

What players should we look out for this summer?

Wayne Rooney – will he transform from striker to midfield maestro as per Bobby Charlton for England in 1966? Gareth Bale to lift Wales’ chances.

Otherwise, for me, goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey for same reasons as Gareth Bale above; Joe Hart, if at his best, to keep England in with a decent hope; Thibaut Courtois, if Belgium are to deliver on their outside chance; Manuel Neuer of Germany – how far will he dare stray upfield? David de Gea, for Spain, possibly the best keeper in the world.

Who would you like to win Euro 2016?

England

Who do you think will win Euro 2016?

The usual suspects but for a bit of excitement, Belgium

What is your favourite book on European Football?

Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino by Paul Kimmage 

Oliver Kay

Oliver Kay is the Chief Football Correspondent for The Times and the author of the brilliant new book Forever Young which tells the little known, and ultimately tragic, story of Manchester United youngster, Adrian Doherty.

What is your first European Championship memory?

I remember my brother collecting the Panini stickers in 1980. He also had a poster on his wall of Ray Clemence’s penalty save against Spain, but my first real Euro memories are from 1984, most of them involving the brilliant France team of Platini, Giresse and Tigana. As a nine-year-old I was also convinced that a gangly Portuguese centre-forward called Jordao was one of the best players on the planet. On reflection, he probably wasn’t.

What is your favourite European Championship match?

Apart from the obvious, which would be England v Holland in 1996, I would say the France v Portugal semi-final in 1984, which seemed astonishing the time, with Platini’s hat-trick made all the more dramatic by John Motson’s crackly commentary. 

What players should we look out for this summer?

If you are new to all this, you should look out for Ronaldo, Muller, Bale, Iniesta, Pogba. Beyond the A-list, I’m looking forward to seeing Portugal’s Renato Sanches, who has just moved to Bayern Munich, and a couple of exciting winger France’s Kingsley Coman and Germany’s Leroy Sane.

Who would you like to win Euro 2016?

England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland. Any of them. Won’t happen, though, will it?

Who do you think will win Euro 2016?

Germany. Failing that, France.

What is your favourite book on European football?

There are so many excellent ones about a particular theme – and so many more, such as Sid Lowe’s Fear and Loathing in La Liga and Rafa Honigstein’s Das Reboot – that I need to get around to reading, but I’m going to single out Ronald Reng’s A Life Too Short, about the tragedy of the former Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke. It’s haunting, but it’s such a powerful, important book. Sorry if that sounds like a morbid choice, but it’s an exceptional piece of work.