Vietnamese football fans are anxiously waiting for the 2016 European Football Championship, which will open in France on June 10.

Euro 2016 is an exhilarating event for football fans all over the world.

Vietnamese fans are meeting in bars and cafes to talk about the upcoming matches. Nguyen Hung Manh analyzes the chances of the participating teams, “This year’s tournament has 24 teams not just 16 as in previous years and all the matches will be tense. There used to be some weaker teams but now the teams are nearly equal. It’s difficult to predict which team will advance to the final.”

Vietnamese fans will either stay at home to watch the football matches with their families or go with their friends to bars or cafes to enjoy the atmosphere.

A fan in Hanoi says, “My family is eager to watch all 51 matches. I want to see the performance of first-time teams such as Iceland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. After every match we discuss which team had a better performance, what the strategy of each team was, and predict the scores of the next matches. I hope the host, France, will be the champion as it was in 1984.”

Vietnamese fans particularly like to see matches played by tradition-rich teams like Britain, Italy, and Germany. Do Thanh, a fan of Britain, says, “France, Germany, Britain, and Italy are strong teams and I think they will go far in the tournament. I’m a fan of Britain so I hope it will reach the final.”

The first match will be between France and Romania on June 10 at Stade de France in Paris, where the final match and the awards ceremony will be held a month later. Germany and Spain have won the most in the history of the European championship, 3 times each.

Vietnamese media organizations have sent reporters to France to cover Euro 2016. In addition to broadcasting live all the matches, Vietnam Television will produce sideline programs like Euro news and Euro diary.

VOV5