This is Hafthor Bjornsson. Hafthor is a very big Icelandic man (More like Doublethor, am I right? Sorry, I couldn't resist). He spends most of his time doing this:
He's pretty much one of the strongest men in the world. Photo: @SIMundial | Twitter
Security at Euro 2016 is of the utmost importance to France and the tournament’s organizers, but the reality of today’s age means that the risk of a terrorist threat at the competition remains very real. Portugal, because of the global stature of Cristiano Ronaldo, have been identified as one of the more high-risk teams, and their coach Fernando Santos acknowledged the threat after his side’s friendly defeat to England on Thursday.
At Euro 2012, the Republic of Ireland, under the direction of former manager Giovanni Trapattoni, seemed pleased to simply be there. Their performances on the pitch validated the belief that they were only making up the numbers required to field the tournament.
Goals like these from the Spanish are going to make Euro 2016 very, very exciting. David Silva put his sniper specialized left foot to the test against South Korea in a warm up match for Spain. From about 30 yards out, Silva hit a firecracker that went bar down in the upper right corner, virtually giving South Korea's shot stopper no chance at ruining the beautiful moment. Spain's shot at redemption from their falter in 2014 will be tested in this upcoming month as they begin their Euro 2016 debut on June 13th.
Multiple reports have confirmed that Portugal and Real Madrid defender Pepe has had his soul dropped from Portugal’s 23-man Euro 2016 squad. Following the events of the Champions League final at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, it's been suggested that Pepe's conscience spirit has deserted him.
While the defender will be representing Portugal at Euro 2016 in body, it's anyone's guess as to where his soul might currently reside.
The build up surrounding Poland’s Euro 2016 Championship campaign has been relatively quiet, and the Poles and their captain Robert Lewandowski certainly won’t be bothered by that. After capturing third place at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, this is a country that has had very little success on the biggest of international stages.
Euro 2016 will start on June 10th and, even though there will be more national teams than ever before, there are some successful players who will not head to France to play this tournament.
For example, Fernando Torres won’t appear for Spain due to a technical decision on the manager's part. As another example, the host country France will not count on Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena due to disciplinary reasons.
When Manuel Neuer continuously came hurtling out of goal against Algeria at the 2014 World Cup, most experts questioned the sanity of such a tactic. Obviously Germany would eventually be punished for holding such a preposterously high defensive line and for allowing their goalkeeper so many touches of the ball.
Italy have announced their provisional squad for Euro 2016, and it’s one of the worst in recent memory. Gone are Antonio Di Natale, Mario Balotelli, Sebastian Giovinco, and Andrea Pirlo. Italy’s staunch defense is still there, but the class of their attack appears to be completely absent.
The official deadline for international managers to submit their 23-man Euro 2016 rosters is May 31, but many have already been finalized, and we can begin to have an idea about what the teams will look like. Specifically, we can see the players who were left out entirely, perhaps unfairly. With that in mind, here are five of the biggest snubs from the Euro 2016 squads.
England - Jermain Defoe
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