Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
The European Championship is fast approaching, and Gareth Southgate will be keenly monitoring leagues around Europe and praying that his key players do not pick up injuries in the run up to this summer's showpiece in Germany.
England were drawn in Group C alongside Serbia, Denmark, and Slovenia. The draw is kind on paper, but Southgate and his side will be taking nothing for granted once they kick off their campaign against Serbia on Sunday 16th June. The odds for the Euro's at Cloudbet have England as favourites to win the tournament and it is hard to argue against that notion when you consider the in-form talent that England has to call upon.
The draw also revealed the stadiums England would be playing their group stage matches in and with them in mind, the desired base camp in Blankenhain, near Leipzig, is a nice central location to get around Germany, while also being an extremely quiet and isolated choice to make base away from the media and unwanted noise. Here is where England will need to travel to for their group stage matches.
Although Schalke 04 now play their football in the second tier of German football, the club still has one of the greatest stadiums in Germany. With a capacity of just over 60,000, the stadium is fit for a major tournament, but England fans will not have fond memories of the last time they played in Gelsenkirchen during the 2006 World Cup.
In what proved to be Sven Goran Eriksson's final England match, the defeat on penalties to Portugal will be remembered more for Wayne Rooney's red card and Cristiano Ronaldo's infamous wink while Rooney was trudging off the pitch. Southgate will hope for a change of fortune when his side kick off their campaign in Gelsenkirchen.
Around 300km away from the Blankenhain base, England will travel to Frankfurt for their second match against Denmark. Another raucous atmosphere will greet both teams with around 58,000 fans expected at the home of the 2022 Europa League winners. England also played at the Waldstadion in 2006 against Paraguay in a 1-0 win secured by Pavon's own goal in the 3rd minute.
England will hope to round up their group stage in Cologne with top spot already confirmed. England have never lost to Slovenia but did need a 94th minute winner from Harry Kane to settle the tie the last times the nations met in 2017 at Wembley. In another mirroring of 2006, England played out an entertaining 2-2 draw against Sweden in Cologne with Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard amongst the goals that day 18 years ago.
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