Spain v Czech Republic preview: David de Gea in contention after controversy
Monday 13 June 2016 16:04, UK
David de Gea is in contention to start for Spain in their Group D opener against Czech Republic after receiving the backing of manager Vicente Del Bosque.
The Manchester United goalkeeper has been forced to deny allegations about his private life.
He called the allegations as "all lies" and was supported by Del Bosque.
"We are here to support him at all times and to give him all our love," the 65-year-old told Teledeporte. "The boy has explained to us that he had nothing to do with it."
Spain are unbeaten in their last 12 games at the European Championships - winning nine and drawing three, the longest run in the history of the competition - and are going for an unprecedented third consecutive European Championship crown.
Chelsea forward Pedro brushed aside suggestions that the De Gea allegations have upset the mood in the European champions' camp.
"Harmony is very good and we want to start in the best way possible. The first match is very important, we want to win and play well. From there begin to grow as a team to move forward."
Del Bosque has no injury concerns and his major selection headache will be whether to pick De Gea or Spain's most capped player, captain Iker Casillas.
The Czech Republic are playing in their ninth European Championship having won it once, as Czechoslovakia, in 1976.
The tournament sees a return to France for Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech, who spent two seasons with Rennes in 2002-04, and he admitted he could not wait to get back.
"The gap between the end of the season and the tournament is too long for me," he told Uefa's website. "I'm always eager to get to a place, to the venues, and to be in the country where you can smell the tournament in the air.
"We have very nice facilities, everything we need. We have had a nice welcome from everybody and a full stadium for training. You can feel that everybody is looking forward to the start of the tournament."
Team news
No injury concerns for Spain, who allowed Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid players a longer post-season break following their Champions League final on 28 May.
For the Czechs, only Basel defender Marek Suchy is unavailable through suspension.
Opta stats
This is Spain and the Czech Republic's first encounter in a major tournament.
Spain's last defeat in the Euros dates back to June 2004 against Portugal (0-1).
Only Lilian Thuram and Edwin van der Sar (16) have played more games at the European Championships than Iker Casillas (14).
The Czech Republic conceded 14 goals in the qualifying campaign, more than any other team to have qualified for the Euro 2016 finals.
The Czech Republic have won seven of their last 10 games in the group stages (L3).
Paul Merson's prediction
This will be a boring Spanish victory. Vicente del Bosque's men lost to Georgia in their final warm-up game but that was one of the most one-sided matches in the history of football. Georgia came out of their half once and they scored! You want those sort of performances out of the way before tournaments and Spain have done that.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 to Spain (Sky Bet odds 9/2)
