Gulf News’ Sports Desk looks forward to the key Euro 2016 matches over the coming week. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00It may have been ugly off the pitch but it's been anything but on it. Opening
00:09wins from France, Germany and Wales have brought a much-needed feel-good factor
00:13to Euro 2016. Joining me again is Golf News deputy sports editor Duncan Hair
00:19and sports reporter Ashley Hammond. So guys the first thing I want to talk
00:23about is England's clash with Wales. Wales the surprise winners in their
00:27opener against Slovakia and England well a dominant performance but they
00:32couldn't quite convert it into three points. How is that clash going to work
00:35out? In an already high-pressure match England have put themselves under a lot
00:40more pressure and this it was I mean Eric Dier is already saying this case
00:46not going to be an international match it's gonna be like a Premier League game
00:49England versus Wales and it really could be England have put themselves in a huge
00:54danger here by simply the fact that Wales have got three points England have won.
00:58I think it's a blessing in disguise in that they've drawn the first game
01:01because that's sort of if they had won the first game easily they might have
01:06gone into this game complacent and against Wales that's probably not what
01:09you want to do because that could be the trickiest game in this group
01:11potentially. I think that's actually been a good thing that they've drawn the game
01:14you're looking at the positives they now know what they need to do they need to
01:19be more clinical basically and that could stem from a change in formation
01:23namely bringing on Vardy they definitely need to like two out-and-out strikers
01:29because at the moment from what I've seen they've had too many attacking
01:32midfielders who aren't necessarily goal scorers they're more playmakers I felt
01:36like we had like almost six playmakers on the pitch the other day. The strength
01:39that Wales had the other night was they've got a lot of togetherness
01:42they've got a lot of team spirit and it's questionable as to England as to
01:46whether England has the same sort of spirit. Okay guys now moving on to
01:50Germany and despite let's face it a makeshift defense they looked quite
01:54formidable in their 2-0 win over Ukraine next up in their fixture list is
01:59Poland do you think Poland are going to offer more of a threat than Ukraine did?
02:03I wasn't impressed with Poland against Northern Ireland I wasn't actually that
02:06impressed by Germany against Ukraine makeshift defense they gave chances away
02:11to Ukraine in the first half where they most certainly were impressive the
02:14second half they totally killed the game I mean the Germans really kept possession
02:17of the ball and then got the sucker punch at the end I think Poland will need to
02:21step up I think Poland can step it up against Germany I think they'll need to
02:24as well. I don't think they're anything but formidable Germany I think they
02:27looked beatable they look weak I think Poland as well like with England and
02:32Wales you've got a local derby with Germany and Poland you know the history
02:36between those two teams doesn't need to be highlighted I think obviously it's
02:41going to be a grudge game Poland beat them in qualifying so they can beat them
02:45Germany didn't didn't look invincible by any standard and I think Poland might
02:51raise their game for this one I could I could possibly see this as being the
02:55first upset. Okay guys now lastly I want to quickly talk about France and their
02:59clash against Albania France obviously won their opening game
03:03Albania have a lot to prove and they also desperately need those three points
03:08if they have any hope of progressing to the next stage how much of a threat are
03:12Albania to France? Not much. I mean it was an impressive first game
03:19against Switzerland well they sort of held their own against Switzerland but
03:22these opening games you can't really tell much everyone's going to be a bit
03:25sort of shaky in the opening games everyone's gone in nervy I don't think
03:30you've really seen the the top quality of all teams yet because it's just an
03:34opening game you can't you can't tell anything from that. Parts of the French
03:37team looked disjointed you know elements of the defense midfield it was a silly
03:41penalty kick they gave away but you saw enough of them particularly in the final
03:45third to think that you know they will be a threat in this tournament I think
03:49it was just a nervy host nation opener all the games have been very tight but
03:53they came out trumps in the end France I think they'll comfortably dispose of Albania
03:57Yeah Dimitri Payet really took it out the bag for them didn't he really
04:01he really saved them but I should think now they'll be a bit more sort of
04:05composed and really they'll get down to business and they should do it quite
04:09easily against Albania. They've so much quality in the final in the attacking
04:13areas final third of the pitch they are a real force to be reckoned with. And by
04:17the same measure Albania will be a bit tired from that opener because they sort
04:21of gave their all and this is where you now start to see the the smaller teams
04:25sort of break down a little bit so I can't imagine they'll hold up much of a
04:29fight. Okay well thank you very much gentlemen and we're looking forward to
04:32another week of top-class international football. As ever you can stay up-to-date
04:36with the latest news, pictures and results on golfnews.com and don't forget
04:40to join us on Twitter at Golf News Sport using the hashtag Euro 2016