UEFA bosses have growing concern about the number of Albanian supporters flocking to Euro 2024.
Around 50,000 of them have bought tickets for their team’s opening game against Italy in Dortmund on Saturday, some of which are believed to be fake.
But what concerns organisers more is the fact that Albania face bitter rivals Croatia just four days later in Hamburg. The two countries have become political enemies.
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And the fear is that a lot of the travelling Albanian fans will go on to Hamburg and clash with their Croatian counterparts.
England have been training on the same grass as the Wembley turf, at their base near Blankenhain. It’s understood FA staff organised for the grass to be transported to the camp months in advance of England arriving.
What do you think of England training with Wembley grass? Let us know in the comments section
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Which is all well and good, but the advantage of the players feeling like they’ve got Wembley beneath their boots won’t help them much should they reach the final, because it’s in Berlin!
Former German favourite Didi Hamann might want to keep a low profile while back in his homeland. Hamann, who also starred for both Newcastle and Liverpool, won 59 international caps.
But this hasn’t stopped him slamming current Germany striker Kai Havertz on the eve of the host nation’s opening game of Euro 2024 against Scotland.
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Hamann reckons the Arsenal star is not good enough to lead the German attack. He told Prime Casino : “He is going to be turning twenty-five soon, and I’m still not sure what his best position is or what it is he does as a football player.
“He’s at that stage of his career where he needs to define his role. If you asked a hundred people what his best position is, you would probably get a lot of different answers.
“He’s not a centre forward, but he’s not prolific enough to score goals or create chances as an offensive midfielder.”
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Those football fans who travelled to Qatar to watch the 2022 World Cup might still be paying off their overdrafts. A beer in Doha cost an eye-watering £14.
So those making the trip to Germany for Euro 2024 will get a pleasant surprise when they discover how much alcohol costs. The prices in some cities are less than half of those in UK stadiums – and up to five times cheaper than Doha.
A pint at BVB Stadion Dortmund costs just £3.34, compared to £7 at Wembley. The average price for a pint at a Euro game is £3.82 (€4.48), and the average cost for a bratwurst is £3 (€3.41).
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It appears the battle to win the Golden Boot has become one of the most predictable two-horse races in history.
Betting patterns studied by bookmakers have revealed that more than 50 per cent of all bets in the marketplace have gone on either Kylian Mbappe or Harry Kane. And it’s not difficult to see why.
Mbappe won the Golden Boot at the 2022 World Cup with eight goals, including a hat-trick in the final, while Kane got the same accolade at the previous one in Russia in 2018.
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Gareth Southgate has been on a mission to improve relations between the England squad and media since taking charge in 2016. He has encouraged his stars to mix with journalists and not see them as the enemy within.
And there was more evidence of this at the team’s media HQ in Blankenhain.
With Conor Gallagher playing a game of darts with one of the travelling media, as well as taking on Eberechi Eze at a game of pool in the excellent games room the FA have provided for those covering the tournament.
A room which also includes a practice putting hole, table football, subbuteo and two XBox’s.