As always happens in even-numbered years, 2016 will not fail to keep sports fans glued to the TV: it is in fact the year that will see two of the most awaited sporting events coincide, the European Football Championships and the Summer Olympics, according to a tradition that has been going on since 1960, when the first European football championship was held in France, a few weeks before the Rome Olympics.
In June it will be France's turn to host the football event again, while the five rings event will be held for the first time in South America, in Rio de Janeiro, in August. That's not all, however: to surround the two biggest events there will be the usual roundup of other sports, from Formula 1 to tennis, from basketball to MotoGP, from cycling to golf.
FOOTBALL
The French one, which will be held from 10 June to 10 July, will be the last edition of the continental event hosted entirely by a single country. The transalpines have honored the circumstance and done things big, renovating the stadiums and building completely new ones. Conte's Italy, which qualified not too brilliantly, they say went badly in the draw: Belgium, Ireland and Sweden. Then the first team in the Fifa ranking and the bogeyman Ibrahimovic. It could actually have gone a little better, but all in all it would be a scandal not to go through, given that in the new formula for the first time with 24 teams, even the best third-placed players will progress to the round of XNUMX. The favorites should be reigning world champions Germany, but watch out for hosts France and revived Spain.
However, the football year will not only live from the European Championships: on May 28, an Italian city, Milan, will host the Champions League final, or what remains the most important event at the club level. However, there is objectively little chance of seeing an Italian team treading the Meazza ground that evening: to date none of us would feel rationally capable of predicting Roma, while Juventus already made the exploit last year. Will it be able to repeat itself? More likely to see one between Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Or why not PSG and Manchester City.
Exceptionally on the occasion of the centenary of the competition, the Copa America (June 3-26): After Chile's home triumph last summer, here is the special edition hosted by the United States. We also celebrate 100 years of Conmebol, the South American Confederation. For Lionel Messi another opportunity to win something with the Argentine national team, in a historic phase in which Brazil - despite Neymar - is not particularly scary. Will it be the right time for the Pulce or will we find ourselves in front of another surprise? Watch out for Colombia and Uruguay, who won the first edition of the tournament just a century ago, in the stadium that now gives its name to the competition: Centenario.
OLYMPIC GAMES
Twenty-eight disciplines, 306 competitions. The world sport festival begins on August 5, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, with the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. Brazil is the first South American country to host the five-circle event, for what promises to be a particularly impressive edition. Compared to London 2012, two big changes: i return of rugby 7 and golf. The Maracanã will host the opening and closing ceremonies, not the João Havelange, venue for the athletics competitions. Russia could be excluded from this discipline due to doping. Italy has yet to choose the standard-bearer, but Federica Pellegrini seems to be the number 1 candidate. From 8 to 19 September it will be the turn of the Paralympic athletes.
TENNIS
It begins, like every year, at the end of January with the Australian Open. It ends, of course, in September with the US Open. In between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Four tournaments and a dream. And if at the male level Novak Djokovic will have to deal with the usual Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Stanislaw Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal, for women Serena Williams wants to take the en plein that escaped her last year on the most beautiful, in the semifinal of Flushing Meadows lost against Roberta Vinci. Italy will miss Flavia Pennetta, who retired after winning the US Open. The hopes of winning even one round of the Grand Slam are slim to the bone.
FORMULA 1
Ferrari tries again. The last season of Formula 1 was dominated by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, but the Prancing Horse has shown encouraging signs of growth. Could 2016 be the year of the return to victory? Hard to say now. Meanwhile, the controversy has already begun with the allegations of Mercedes, which has denounced an engineer for having tried to offer himself to Ferrari by bringing with him the secrets of the Silver Arrows. If a good day starts in the morning, it will be fun.
MOTO GP
The facts and controversies with which the 2015 season ended make it one of the most awaited events of the year. Valentino Rossi has a mad desire for revenge. Marc Marquez as well. And Jorge Lorenzo certainly has no intention of easily giving up the title he just won. The enormous amount of talent distributed on the track would already be enough to make the 2016 MotoGP World Championship unmissable. Throw in all the pepper from the tail of 2015, try to imagine it spread over all 18 races of the season, and you'll get an explosive mixture.
NBA BASKETBALL
The finals will officially start on June 2nd and at the moment the Golden State Warriors seem very fast towards a historic back-to-back, or a second consecutive triumph. Much of the fate of the American basketball championship will be decided in the West, where the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunders dream of tripping up the battleship led by Steve Kerr, former teammate of Michael Jordan at the time of the invincible Chicago Bulls, whose records are however falling one by one under the blows of the deadly Stephen Curry and his companions. In the East, it's hard to imagine a finalist other than LeBron James' Cleveland Cavs. He is among the most awaited stars in the playoffs, with Steph Curry, Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant. It should also be noted that the current season will be the last season of a legend of this sport: Kobe Bryant.
SUPERBOWL
Remaining in the States, as every year one of the most followed events globally will be the American football final. After the 2015 edition, won by Tom Brady's New England Patriots thanks to an extraordinary comeback in the fourth period against the Seattle Seahawks (and a few too deflated balls), the NFL championship is preparing to celebrate its 50th birthday. That is why an even greater spectacle can be expected from this year's final. The event will be hosted by Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers. Guests of the 'Golden Super Bowl' halftime show will be Coldplay. Now it remains only to know which teams will take the field.
CYCLING
The most awaited events are as per tradition Tour of Italy (6-29 May) and Tour de France (July 2-24). The 2015 edition of the Italian stage race went into the archives with the pink jersey firmly on the shoulders of Alberto Contador and the second place of Fabio Aru. The next could be that of Vincenzo Nibali. The Shark of Messina has a great desire to make up for it after a rather disappointing season in which he had to "settle" for the title of Italian champion and the Giro di Lombardia, finishing fourth in the Tour and suffering disqualification at the Vuelta. To take home the pink jersey and win the race for the second time in his career, Nibali will have to overcome the all-Spanish competition of Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde. The arrival will not be in Milan but in Turin.
The Tour, on the other hand, will see an evocative departure from Mont Saint Michel and the usual arrival on the Champs-Élysées. Many climbs (28 between hors categories, first and second category) and two individual time trials for a total of 54 kilometers against the clock. That's why it might as well be the right edition for Fabio Arau, fresh from success at the Vuelta and with strong yellow ambitions. His rivals? Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and, above all, Chris Froome.
GOLF
The Ryder Cup, golf's most awaited event, is back after two years. A little over a month before the Olympic Games, the champions of the United States and Europe will gather at the Hazeltine national golf course in Chaska, Minnesota, for a new edition of the Ryder Cup. The Old Continent has won the trophy on the last three occasions, but this year the music could change. It will be necessary to wait until September 25 to find out the members of the two teams, but the world top 10 includes six American athletes.
