It’s been an impressive opening to the Euro’s out in France, and some of our Gunners have been influential in getting their side off to a flying start.
Despite some surprise omissions in Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal, Arsenal have ten players currently representing their country at the tournament.
As well as some of the squad, Arsene Wenger has also been spotted in his home country to either keep an eye on some of his stars, or scout out some new summer arrivals.
Fresh Arsenal have put together a brief review of how each of the ten have featured in round one of the tournament, which at the moment looks fairly difficult to pick out a winner.
Olivier Giroud (France)
- Result: 2-1 win over Romania
- Goals: 1
- Minutes played: 90
- Next game: Albania (Wednesday 15th June)
Olivier Giroud silenced his critics and got the tournament off to a lively start for the hosts, opening the scoring in the 57th minute with an intelligent header from Dimitri Payet’s cross.
Following his final day hat-trick which helped lift the Gunners to second place, Giroud has had his fair share of criticism in the international squad, and has taken the place of Karim Benzema.
However, just moments before he was due to be substituted the 29-year-old silenced his doubters and is expected to retain his place to cement France’s position in the knockout stages.
Laurent Koscielny (France)
- Result: 2-1 win over Romania
- Goals: 0
- Minutes played: 90
- Next game: Albania (Wednesday 15th June)
Like his French team-mate above, Koscielny also managed to pick up a full game in tournament opener, and was as strong as ever in defence to secure victory for the millions of home supporters.
Koscielny’s chances of another international clean sheet were sucker punched when Patrice Evra stuck a leg out to concede a clumsy penalty in the 65th minute.
Despite a shaky opening performance from the hosts, Koscielny will be one of the first names on the team sheet, but at the moment is having to look after his defensive partner, Rami, who seemed to act as a liability during the 2-1 win.
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
- Result: 1-0 win over Albania
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 0
- Minutes played: 90
- Next game: Romania (Wednesday 15th June)
The latest Arsenal signing was hailed as one of the best players on the pitch as his side ran out to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over 10-men Albania.
Xhaka was headline news across social media due to him playing against his brother, a remarkable story in which he stated didn’t affect his performance, and after the game they shook hands and got back to normal.
Aaron Ramsey (Wales)
- Result: 2-1 win over Slovakia
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 1
- Minutes played: 88
- Next game: England (Thursday 16th June)
If the expectation wasn’t all on Gareth Bale then Aaron Ramsey would have had a grilling in the post-match pundits room, because he didn’t provide on the day.
Despite his assist to cap off a memorable win for Chris Coleman’s side, Ramsey missed a series of opportunities and was disappointing to kill off the game when he finally had a chance to shoot.
The celebrations and relief of Wales’ opening victory were enough to distract from his performance, but he won’t get away with it again, he has to start taking chances.
Jack Wilshere (England)
- Result: Drew 1-1 with Russia
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 0
- Minutes played: 12
- Next game: Wales (Thursday 16th June)
Wilshere played 12 minutes as a substitute during the surprise draw with Russia in which his country failed to capitalise on a first half full of chances.
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His place was taken by Wayne Rooney, who dropped back from his normal forward role to sit deep, a decision that Wilshere has recently stated he’s happy with as the England captain is “the best player in the team”.
Despite his lack of game time, Wilshere has a great chance to start on Thursday with Roy Hodgson hopeful of making some changes to secure a massive three points and possible early place in the knockout stages.
Wojciech Szczesny (Poland)
- Result: 1-0 win over Northern Ireland
- Clean sheets: 1
- Minutes played: 90
- Next game: Germany (Thursday 16th June)
It was a comfortable afternoon for the shot-stopper who despite some familiar confidence issues at set pieces, was good enough to keep his side in the game and wrap up three points.
Poland are now predicted to head through the group stages with Germany, who they face next and the goalkeeper will want to put on a show to frustrate his national rivals.
Szczesny was in the news this week due to him reportedly reaching an agreement to spend another year on loan at Serie A side Roma, where he made 42 appearances last season.
Mesut Ozil (Germany)
- Result: 2-0 win over Ukraine
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 1
- Minutes played: 90
- Next game: Poland (Thursday 16th June)
The German playmaker was back to his best to get the World Champions off to a winning start, including an impressive assist to round off the victory.
Despite having to drop onto the right hand side back in 2014, Ozil was seen in his familiar number 10 position and looked in command to secure all three points.
One more win for the Germans should confirm a knockout stage place, and hopefully Ozil can continue this form into a huge Premier League season for the Gunners.
Petr Cech (Czech Republic)
- Result: 1-0 loss to Spain
- Clean sheets: 0
- Minutes played: 90
- Next game: Croatia (Friday June 17th)
Nothing out of the ordinary from Arsenal’s man with the gloves, and he had plenty to do to keep Spain from taking control of the game from the off.
However, Spain’s attack looked limp until Gerard Pique popped up with a glancing header in the 87th minute to leave Czech Republic with a must win game over Croatia on Friday.
Thomas Rosicky (Czech Republic)
- Result: 1-0 loss to Spain
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 0
- Minutes played: 88
- Next game: Croatia (Friday June 17th)
How great it was to see this man out on the pitch to represent his country with the armband yet again, because it’s been a difficult season for the 35-year-old.
As well as an impressive performance that saw Rosicky run the show in midfield, and in doing so he became the Czech Republic’s oldest player to feature in history.
Rosicky still holds the record for being the youngest player to play for his country at the Euro’s, so it just shows what an international career the former Gunner has had.
Hector Bellerin (Spain)
- 1-0 win over Czech Republic
- Minutes played: 0
- Next game: Turkey (Friday 17th June)
Bellerin was an unused substitute during his countries slender opening victory, but at such a young age the right-back will be happy just to be in the squad.
Gaining vital international tournament experience will be a massive boost in his playing career, and he’ll be sure to cement his position as Arsenal’s first choice right back next season.
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