Euro 2020 is just around the corner and football fans can barely contain their excitement.
As dire as international breaks might be during the season itself, there's nothing quite like a major tournament when the sun is shining, the beers are flowing and everyone is cheering on their nation.
And what makes the Euros, in particular, such an exciting prospect is the fact that anyone can take home the trophy with Greece and Denmark serving as two remarkable underdog stories.
Euro 2020 predictions
As such, making predictions about the Euros is about as impossible as trying to dribble past Virgil van Dijk with a space hopper while wearing ankle shackles and a pair of flip-flops.
But when has that ever stopped me? Besides, this is the humble GIVEMESPORT writer who correctly predicted the entire Premier League top four before a ball was kicked last season.
Throw in correctly calling that Roy Hodgson would retire, Liverpool would finally lose at Anfield and that Slaven Bilic would be the first manager sacked to see that I'm not totally inept at predictions.
Who will shine at Euro 2020?
As such, I'm now turning my hand to Euro 2020 and on the back of trying to predict every single game at the competition, it's time to try and forecast how the Team of the Tournament will look.
It will, of course, be an incredibly tough task, but there are a few methods through which I could narrow the search and formulate an idea as to how Euro 2020 might pan out.
Firstly, I sought to stick to my overall tournament predictions, which saw France defeat Spain in the final, to roughly keep consistency with which teams I think will either fly or flounder.
Predicted Team of the Tournament
And secondly, I looked at the history books to essentially get the idea that the decision process is largely biased towards the teams who have either made the semi-finals, final or won the title.
So, without further ado, get ready to take your screenshots and plan my public humiliation in a month's time by checking out my prediction for the Euro 2020 Team of the Tournament.
Ok, so what's the rationale behind the decisions?
The reasoning behind the calls
Given that I'm backing France to go all the way, it was important to ensure that the XI reflected that, particularly in the defensive areas where there's often less competition for the individual awards.
And with Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez standing out as two of the most underrated defenders amongst the top nations, I anticipate that they'll collect the admirers they deserve this summer.
Euro 2020: News, Groups, Fixtures, Dates, Tickets, Odds And Everything You Need To Know
Antonio Rudiger is perhaps a rogue choice, but I anticipate that Germany will spring a few surprises this month and the Chelsea man - fresh from Champions League glory - has become a real tentpole in Joachim Low's system.
Speaking of surprises, I think Denmark are serious dark horses, so if Kasper Schmeichel is in even half the form he displayed in the FA Cup final, then he'll do enough to beat Hugo Lloris to a slot.
I expect Kyle Walker to be England's top performer as the leading right-back on the way to the quarter-finals and Nicolò Barella will have a real breakout tournament as Italy prove themselves to be a resurgent force.
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I like to think that N'Golo Kante, Joshua Kimmich, Romelu Lukaku and Kylian Mbappe speak for themselves as admittedly Barry Basic choices but come on, let's face it, they're all world-class.
And the XI is rounded off by a pick that could admittedly backfire spectacularly if Spain opt for Alvaro Morata over Gerard Moreno, but I couldn't claim that Las Rojas are going all the way to the final and not back one of their stars.
Now, take my word for it when I say that predicting the Team of the Tournament is stupidly tough with everyone from Cristiano Ronaldo to Harry Kane and Kevin De Bruyne to Ruben Dias missing out.
But if we've learned anything from international tournaments over the years, it's that the only thing predictable about them is that they're unpredictable, so, frankly, the wilder your predictions, the better. At least, that's what I'm hoping...