The participating teams of the European Championship are intensively playing a number of warm-up matches, and the favorites to win the championship have appeared, England, which is mainly substituted, has won a big victory, and Portugal, which lacks Ronaldo, also ushered in a big score. However, the hosts Germany, as well as the defending champion Italy, are 0-0 in two games, and the prospects may not be good, and the slow heat may be out.
Bellingham has not yet played in the national team due to the Champions League final with Real Madrid, and Southgate has put out a starting line-up dominated by substitutes, with obvious intentions, more to look at fringe players. Palmer continued their good form in the league, scoring the first goal of the national team in their first start, although it was only a penalty, but they maintained the data of hitting all the penalties, and I believe that they can bring England the confidence to take the penalty. Trent Alexander-Arnold and substitute Harry Kane have made great contributions to England's big win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, and if all the main players return, they will be even stronger.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who just won the Saudi Arabian League Golden Boot Award, did not appear on the field, Manchester United captain Fernandes scored twice to help Portugal beat Finland, fans joked, anyone can be missing, but not B fee. As Ronaldo gets older and leaves the European League, he doesn't know if he can still maintain his excellent performance against European teams. Portugal's middle generation, as well as young players, need to develop quickly if they are to be successful at the European Championships.
Since Germany is the host, there has been no official competition for nearly two years, and the warm-up match is particularly important. However, the 38-year-old veteran Neuer scored a goal by the opponent after a mistake at the end of the game, but fortunately it was ruled offside first, so the team did not concede a goal. Therefore, Nagelsmann, who has just been in charge for less than a year, does not know if he dares to use the meritorious goalkeeper who has obviously declined in form. The 0-0 scoreline also cast a shadow over the hosts' prospects, with a fruitless attack and holes in the defence that need to be improved as soon as possible.
Italy also ended in a goalless draw, with Manuel Pellegrini leaving the team with a squad challenge after wearing the number 10 shirt. What worries fans even more is that in the whole game, Italy only had one shot on target, as Ancelotti said, the current national team lacks superstars such as Pirlo, Totti and Piero, and the pain of renewal has appeared. Although Italy is the defending champion of the European Championship, the fact that this traditional giant has not been able to qualify for the main tournament in the past two World Cups has shown a lot of problems.
The two 0-0 matches between Germany and Italy reflect the team's flaws. Although it was only a warm-up match, the slow heat did not always succeed, and Italy, which used to slow heat, was not the star-studded Italy of the past. Looking at the World Cup two years ago, Germany lost to Japan in its first game, which was said to be a slow heat, but then drew with Spain and beat Costa Rica, but could not recover the defeat and could only be eliminated from the group.
So, the slow heat is often just a consolation, with Italy winning both of the group stage and England drawing just one of the two teams that reached the final of the last European Championship, with the other two group stage wins. Therefore, if you can show good form early, you will have more hope to go further and have more confidence to compete for the championship.