Euro kicks off on Friday, and with the last pre-tournament friendlies having finished this weekend, participating teams are finalizing their preparations over the new few days. Tactical refreshers, conditioning drills, fitness monitoring -- all are important pieces of groundwork in the lead up, but nothing is so important as the fluffy player interviews that give us an extra bit of insight into a country's training camp. Former Brendan Rodgers target Ashley Williams, captain of Wales, kicked things off with a delightful anecdote about teammate wee Joe Allen.
"Everyone loves Joe," Williams told Wales Online as part of his rundown on his entire team. "We have a WhatsApp messaging group and at least once a week we have a Joe Allen Appreciation Day. Great beard, great haircut, great guy, he's the main man in the squad. Class player too."
Joe Allen Appreciation Day! Or as it should be more accurately known around these parts: every day. While Ashley Williams spoke enthusiastically about wee Joe, over in the England camp Adam Lallana shared some thoughts about the leisure activities the brave lads have been enjoying and who the real stars of precision sports are.
"Darts, pool, table tennis and golf are all popular so there’s plenty to keep you busy," Lallana said, "and there’s always Netflix now as well. Quite a few of the lads are good at darts – James Milner and Jamie Vardy are probably the best. We’ve requested a dart board to come with us to Chantilly."
Thankfully at least a few of the enthusiasts are good at darts, otherwise Roy Hodgson could find himself with a few last minute injuries to deal with.