Euro 2016: The tournament so far

With big sporting occasions you always need top commentators and pundits to help dissect and analyse the goings on whether it be John Motson or Saint and Greavsie.

But for Euro 2016, being held in France, you will have to make do with the wit and expertise of the duo Joseph Verney and Rob Beezley. You can either stick with us with the loyalty of Paolo Maldini or just dip in and out at your leisure, but rest assured we will try stay clear of the Michael Owen stating the obvious kind of style.

With every team in the tournament now having played once we look back on what Euro 2016 has had to offer so far.

MOMENTS OF THE TOURNAMENT SO FAR
Four of the five Home Nations reaching the tournament, Iceland playing in the first ever major tournament and the normal big powerhouses in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and co on show. Yes, this had the makings of another great international tournament, but how has it been so far?

JV: This is the first tournament I can remember in a long while when I cannot easily recite every single group, who is playing in what order and the different possibilities for the knock-out stages. Maybe I wasn't as buzzing for a major international tournament as normal, but fast forward to day two and England's first game and I was soon listening to football songs and in a great mood ahead of the match. I have seen bits or all of most of the matches so far and Republic of Ireland and Italy have been the two sides to catch my eye so far. Luka Modric's goal for Croatia against Turkey was pure class and I hope we see plenty more wonder goals as the tournament goes on. The tournament is still in its early stages and there is plenty time for teams to stand up and be counted as places in the knock-out stages gradually begin to be finalised in the coming days.

RB: Having missed the first game of Euro 2016 my first viewing was Switzerland vs Albania and the battle of the Xhaka brothers in a game which ended 1-0 to Granit's Switzerland! Then came the Bale free-kick that Slovakia's keeper should have done better with! Then the final game of the day was of course England vs Russia and England getting agonisingly close to the three points, literally seconds!!! Sunday and Monday I didn't see much of any of the games due to work commitments but rest assured I've heard about "that" Modric worldy!! Onto Tuesday and Hungary beating Austria 2-0, Before the pin up boy appeared for Portugal in their game against Iceland, who did absolutely no harm to their reputation in a game that ended 1-1.


ENGLAND
Going into the tournament there appeared to be varying opinions on England's chances. On the one hand there was less pressure and hype as normal as some were unsure whether England had the calibre to improve on their performances in recent major tournaments. But with James Vardy and Harry Kane having superb seasons for their clubs and a lot of younger players coming through there was also something of an air of optimism about England, so it really was hard to really know how we would fair this time around. After the opening England game ended in a 1-1 draw with Russia, how do our chances look?

JV: After Eric Dier's delightful free-kick after 73 minutes in what had been a largely impressive performance, all the hard work was undone by an injury time leveller from Russia. In some ways the draw almost felt like a defeat such was the rather deflating feeling that followed Vasili Berezutski's stoppage time header. This now makes the next game against Wales even bigger than it already was as we must avoid a defeat if we want to realistically stay in the competition. Wales impressed in their win over Slovakia and will arguably go into the game as the more confident of the two sides and, for me, it will depend which England side turns up on the day. We are more than capable of beating Wales on our day but we could also lose badly so we must be careful. We need to show plenty of hunger and desire, give Vardy a run out and stop Kane from taking corners to give us the best possible chance.

RB: Now for my part on England and I'm going to start off with 2 VERY bad points that everyone has been thinking. Kane on corners and starting Sterling?! What's Roy thinking?! Now knowing my luck Kane will deliver a corner that Sterling will head in against Wales on Thursday!! Jokes aside though yes he's worth 50m at club level but what does Sterling do for England?! In my opinion the best chance we had was a 4-4-2 formation at the Euros and have Alli feeding Kane and Drinkwater who didn't go, feeding Vardy who didn't even make it onto the pitch against Russia! Now for the positives, Rooney had an incredible game in midfield and was a real general and Eric Dier scored a sublime free-kick! Going into the Wales game.. I'm confident but cautious!

ROUND TWO OF GROUP MATCHES
The second round of group games will go a long way to deciding the fates of many of the teams in this tournament, so what can we expect and what is there to look forward to next?

JV: Although this will sound very biased as an Englishman, the first fixture that really stands out to me from the second round of group matches is our clash with Wales. It will be really interesting to see how fellow home nation Northern Ireland do against Ukraine, while the other match in Group C between Germany and Poland could potentially be a great encounter. Czech Republic and Croatia could muster up a decent match, while the clash between Italy and Sweden has me intrigued. I am really looking forward to the Republic of Ireland's clash with Belgium and, although it would be good to see some great football from the Belgians, I'd love Martin O'Neill's men to beat them. All eyes were on global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal took to the field for their opening game, but major tournament debutants Iceland held them to a very credible 1-1 draw.

RB: Well the second round of games is where the tournament starts to take shape and you start to see who will be going home and who will go through as the new rule third place team! You have to believe England need to beat Wales to stand a chance and it would be a shock to see any of Spain, Portugal, Germany, France or Italy go home but as already stated this is where the tournament takes shape! Here's to the second round of games!

TIPS TO WIN THE TOURNAMENT
Before the tournament kicked off hosts France were the favourites of many, while the likes of world champions Germany and Euro holders Spain are always dangerous, but whether any of them will claim the big prize of Euro 2016 glory is another story.

JV: France were my very early prediction to win it but after the first round of group matches it is still all to play for and I don't think any of the major teams have stood out. There isn't a team that I have seen yet and thought wow they are going to win the Euros, but let's see how the rest of it pans out. There is something though that is clearly apparent so far and that is write off Italy at your peril. In some of the build up of their opening match with Belgium, it sounded like many didn't fancy Italy's chances in the tournament, but they definitely impressed me and were more than deserving of their 2-0 win. I'm not saying they are going to lift the Euros but, if they play like that, they will give themselves a sniff of a chance at least.

RB: I've got to be honest when the tournament started I thought it was anybodies Euro's! You have your early favourites.. Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy and France! If I had to put money on it then I would say Germany to win the Euro's! As stated by Joseph no-one particularly stands out so here's to the rest of the Euro's and seeing a clear winner!

Hopefully, when you return for the next edition of Verney and Beezley, England will have boosted their chances of reaching the knock-out stages with a victory over Wales....well we are allowed to dream aren't we.

KEEP TAKING THE ROAD TO PARIS WITH US! COME ON ENGLAND!