EURO-"VISION": EURO 2020 GROUP-A EYE CANDIES

Talk'OH! Tuesday

Written by Glenn Javier

Euro 2020 just kicked in (pun intended) and they have organized the national teams or so-called "squads" into groups. Also, they have managed to identify the key players and athletes on the "One-to" watch list! And guess what? These guys are total eye candies! Like our monthly Thirsty -30s, we cannot deny the abundance of mesmerizing humans in the World of Sports, especially guys on the football field. Talk about scoring by kicking the ball and by stealing everyone's hearts!

This month, on a weekly basis, we are here to familiarize ourselves with the key athletes and/or the ones to watch players of each country's national team under their respective groups. For this week, it's time to get to know Group A's finest men, both in physique and performance.

UEFA Group A Eye Candies [Left to Right] Fabian Schär, Mert Müldür, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Nicolò Barella

Here are Group A's hottest players!

Mert Müldür [One to Watch]

• Born: Apr 1999 (age 22)

• Birthplace: Vienna, Austria

• Team: Turkey

• Position: Defender

• Squad Number: 25

FACTS

• Mert is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Italian club Sassuolo and now the Turkey National Team.

• Mainly a right-back, he is a versatile defender capable of playing in multiple positions.

• Mert made his debut for the senior national team of his country back in October 2018.

• Other than his photos on the field, he loves to post images of him on vacation. Mert has 62K followers on Instagram @mert.m99

Nicolò Barella [Key Player]

• Born: February 1997 (age 24 years)

• Birthplace: Cagliari, Italy

• Team: Italy

• Position: Attacking midfielder

• Squad Number: 18

FACTS

• Nicolò is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Italy national team.

• In 2016, he was sent on loan to Como in Serie B, where he played as a first choice for the second part of the season

• Nicolò joined Inter Milan just almost two years ago on a year-long loan deal made his club debut in august of the same year against Lecce.

• He took part in the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship with the Italy U19 team then joined the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup with the Italy U20

• Nicolò made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 1 September 2017, in a 3–0 friendly defeat against Spain and took part with the U21 side in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

• He has 663K followers on Instagram @nicolo_barella and usually shares photos of his wife and kids apart from his team and performance on the field.

Fabian Schär [One to Watch]

• Born: December 1991 (age 29)

• Birthplace: Wil, Switzerland

• Team: Switzerland

• Position: Centre-back

• Squad Number: 22

FACTS

• Fabian is a Swiss professional footballer who currently plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Swiss national team.

• After playing at the 2012 Olympics, he made his senior debut for Switzerland in 2013. Schär represented the nation at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2016.

• Fabian signed a three-year deal with Newcastle United back in July 2018

• He made his debut for the club in August of the same year in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea.

• Fabian scored his first goals for Newcastle against Cardiff City in January 2019.

• He was part of Switzerland's squad for the 2014 World Cup and was also included in the same Swiss team's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup.

• Fabian currently has 115K followers on Instagram @fabianschaer_official where he posts his best shots while playing on the field.

Rhys Norrington-Davies [One to Watch]

• Born: April 1999 (age 22)

• Birthplace: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• Team: Wales

• Position: Defender

• Squad Number: 17

FACTS

• Rhys is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a defender for Sheffield United, and the Wales national team.

• He played for Swansea City, before joining Sheffield United's academy in 2017 and joined Barrow on a one-month loan a year later.

• Rhys was recalled by Sheffield United at the beginning of this year after making 22 appearances in all competitions and was loaned to Stoke City later that day.

• He is a Wales under-19 and under-21 international. He was called up to the senior Wales squad for the first time in October 2020.

• Rhys made his full international debut for Wales on 14 October 2020 in the starting line-up for the 1–0 Nations League win against Bulgaria.