Why UEFA Nations League is new and exciting?
UEFA Nations League will be inaugurated on Thursday with the first must-watch match between the last two World Cup champions, Germany against France.
It will be the first official match for Les Bleus following their victorious campaign in Russia where they won their second World Cup in country’s history. The betting portal bettingsites.ng calculated the best odds for this very anticipated match as two powerhouses will battle for the win.
The concept:
With the Nations League, UEFA wanted to create a new competition to replace friendly matches. Friendlies were heavily criticized the last few years and suffered from a lack of interest.
The 54 participating European national teams associations will be divided into four divisions according to their UEFA coefficient ranking which was determined before the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
The groups:
Nations League A and B will each include four groups of three teams.
Nations League C will have two groups of three teams and two groups of four teams. And, UEFA Nations League D will contain four groups of four teams.
The matches:
Germany versus France match in League A, in Munich, is the highlight of the opening week. France is now #1 in the FIFA world ranking. Germany dropped to 15th place following their World Cup group stage elimination.
French coach, Deschamps assumes clearly his team’s new status:
“I don’t see being world champions as a burden but as something wonderful, but we won’t dwell on that. We’re already thinking ahead.
[Germany] did not make it to the World Cup knockout phase, but they still have a great squad. We love playing games like this.
[Germany are] a big team and we have to stay focused. That’s high-level football: you have to win every game and keep challenging yourself.”
An Irish-British clash will take place in Cardiff when Wales face Ireland in League B. This is another great match to follow in an electric atmosphere.
How Spain can rebuild from their early exist in Russia. The 2010 World Cup champions will travel north to play England, the semifinalists of the last FIFA World Cup.
English manager, Southgate wants to build the best possible team:
“We’re obviously coming off the back of a successful summer, so I think there’s a good foundation for us to build on.
From here we have a two-year lead into the European Championships. So I want us to try and capture what we had this summer and why they felt it went well.”
