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Emile Mpenza Gives his predictions for Euro 2024
Emile Mpenza shares his Euro 2024 predictions, highlighting Belgium's chances, key players like Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne, and his thoughts on team dynamics and dark horses.
🏆 Emile Mpenza's Euro 2024 Predictions! 🏆
🏆 Euro 2024 Winner: Belgium favoured to win, with Spain and France as strong contenders.
⚽ Golden Boot Winner: Phil Foden predicted to win, praised for his performances.
🌟 Golden Ball Winner: Foden also tipped for the Golden Ball, highlighting England's talent.
🇧🇪 Belgium vs. England: England has more quality; current Belgium team not as strong as before.
🐴 Dark Horses: Hungary and Switzerland identified as potential surprises.
🔮 Match Predictions:
- Belgium to win against Slovakia (1-0),
- Romania (2-1), and
- Ukraine (3-0).
Q: Who will win Euro 2024?
EM: “My favourite is Belgium first and then Spain or France.”
EURO2024 Betting Odds
All odds tables on this page are sourced live from the displayed betting sites. Once the market is closed, no odds box will appear.
Q: Who will win the Golden Boot at Euro 2024?
EM: “There are lots of good players who could win the Golden Boot, you have Cristiano Ronaldo, you have Harry Kane. But I think this year it will be won by Phil Foden.
“He’s played some great football this year and I think he will be England’s star man.”
EURO2024 Golden Boot Betting Odds
All odds tables on this page are sourced live from the displayed bookmakers. Once the market is closed, no odds box will appear.
Q: Who will win the Golden Ball at Euro 2024?
EM: “I think the Golden Ball will go to Foden.
“This year is there for England because they have so many good players, but recently they haven't been able to get over the line. But with Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka I think they will reach the final.“
Q: Do England have a better team than Belgium?
EM: “England have more quality than Belgium, this Belgium team isn’t as strong as the generation before. They have Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne but they don’t have Eden Hazard, England have quality in every position.
“For some Belgium players this is going to be their first tournament and that is very difficult.”
Q: Who are your dark horses at Euro 2024?
Hungary fans will be be in numbers at Euro 2024
EM: “For dark horses I’ll go for Hungary or maybe Switzerland. Switzerland have a lot of good players and they won’t have played as many games this season as England for instance.
“Look at Manchester City, they play too many games.”
Q: Who will have the best fans at Euro 2024?
EM: “I think the Belgium fans are good but not like they are in England. England have the best fans in the world. When I played in the Premier League after I played in Belgium, it was totally different from the fans. I just hope the Belgium fans are happy with the team.”
Q: Is Kevin De Bruyne Belgium’s most important player?
Kevin De BruyneEM: “Kevin De Bruyne is very important for the team, he is Belgium’s most important player. He hasn’t played too much in the season with City because of injury but hopefully he is fresh now for the national team.
“When you have a player like him in your team, he makes every other player better. With one pass he can change a game. He is the most important player for Belgium, especially with Thibaut Courtois not in the squad.”
Q: Are you surprised by Thibaut Courtois’ snub?
EM: “For me, it is a good decision to leave out Thibaut Courtois because the manager will have his reasons. It is for the coach to decide and that is what he has done.
“We don’t know what has happened inside the squad, but I would say that the decision shocked me because he played very well in the Champions League final for Real Madrid after coming back from injury.”
Q: Who will be Belgium’s star young players at Euro 2024?
EM: “Belgium have good young players like Zeno Debast and they need to have that alongside the experienced players like Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne.”
Q: What was it like to score a winning goal at Euro 2000 playing with your brother?
Scoring the winning goal at Euro 2000 with my brother is a special memory. Everything I achieved, I did for him. Playing together for Belgium was incredible!
EM: “Scoring the winning goal against Sweden at Euro 2000 while playing alongside my brother is a very special memory.
“We played together for Standard Liege and for Belgium, everything I achieved in my career I did for him because he taught me the ways, everytime I scored I thought of him.
“Having your brother alongside you in a national team is incredible, especially playing in 2000 in front of our fans.”
Q: What do you predict for Belgium vs Slovakia?
EM: “We need to win the opening game but Slovakia won’t make it easy.
“It will be a close game because everyone ups their performance against Belgium, I think it will be 1-0 to Belgium.”
🎤 Szilard Nemeth Exclusive Interview and Euro 2024 Predictions
Q: What do you predict for Belgium vs Romania?
EM: “Romania are also a strong team so that won’t be easy either. Some people have said that Belgium have a good group but every team at Euro 2024 has quality.
“I think it will be 2-1 to Belgium.”
🎤 Costel Pantilimon Exclusive Interview and Euro 2024 Predictions
Q: What do you predict for Belgium vs Ukraine?
EM: “In this game I want to see more goals, it will be good for the fans and give players more confidence. I hope it will be 3-0.”
🎤 Yevhen Levchenko Exclusive Interview and Euro 2024 Predictions
Q: Did Roberto Martinez underachieve as Belgium manager?
EM: “Belgium were disappointing under Roberto Martinez because we had a peak Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku for years and have nothing to show for it.
“We have lost some key players and now it’s a new generation. Under the new coach Domenico Tedesco, we have a good team but not as much pressure.
“The pressure on Martinez came over every single decision he made for squads and even during games, a different mentality is important.
“Everything is new now, like with Thibaut Courtois which has been accepted. I think he's a good coach and we will see that in the group stage.”
Emile Mpenze Profile
Eka Basunga Lokonda "Émile" Mpenza (born 4 July 1978) is a retired Belgian footballer who played as a striker. Belgium capped him at the international level, and he played alongside his older brother, Mbo, who also represented Belgium.
Club Career
Mpenza began his career at K.V. Kortrijk, then moved to R.E. Mouscron and Standard Liège with his brother, Mbo. In 2000, he joined Bundesliga's FC Schalke 04 and later returned to Standard Liège. Mpenza played for Hamburger SV and Qatari team Al Rayyan before joining Manchester City in 2007. He then had stints with Plymouth Argyle, Swiss club FC Sion, Azerbaijan's Neftchi Baku, and Eendracht Aalst.
International Career
From 1997 to 2009, Mpenza played for Belgium, gaining 57 international caps, often alongside his brother Mbo. He scored in the opening match of Euro 2000 against Sweden, but missed the 2002 World Cup due to injury.
Emile Mpenza June 2024 Interview
Speaking exclusively to OLBG, former Manchester City striker Emile Mpenza has urged Luis Openda to reject Manchester United in favour of Tottenham this summer.
The ex-Belgium international has also told Aston Villa to consider bringing in Romelu Lukaku before their Champions League return under Unai Emery.
Mpenza has also questioned Gareth Southgate’s strange and shocking snub of Jack Grealish for his Euro 2024 squad and noted that Kevin De Bruyne is not the player he once was.
Q: Should Luis Openda join Tottenham over Manchester United?
EM: “I would suggest that Luis Openda should choose Tottenham over Manchester United looking at the problems they had at Old Trafford last season.
“He's a young player and he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on himself by going to a team like Manchester United, I think Tottenham could be a good direction.
“He has proven his quality by scoring so many goals in Germany, which is why he is being linked to the Premier League.
“Having said that, the Premier League is the strongest league in the world and never easy to adapt to, when I moved to Manchester City I realised how different it was.
“Openda will need to learn, but he has the quality to make that happen.”
Q: What have you made of Romelu Lukaku’s struggles in England?
Romelu Lukaku
EM: “I think Romelu Lukaku’s struggles at Chelsea are very strange because he is a top striker, but for some reason he didn’t play well for them.
“He’s strong, he’s fast and he scores lots of goals, but it didn’t work out for him in the end in the Premier League.
“But he has played very well in Italy and importantly he always plays well for Belgium.”
Q: Do you urge Romelu Lukaku to leave Chelsea?
EM: “I think Romelu Lukakau leaves Chelsea this summer and I could see him going to Turkey with Galatasaray or Fenerbahce.
“I think he could reunite with Jose Mourinho knows him very well, that’s the kind of coach he needs.
“Lukaku has the quality to stay in the Premier League but maybe not with any of the traditional Bid Six teams, he could look to return to Everton if they can get a good deal or even Aston Villa.
“I think he could be a great option for Aston Villa when they play in the Champions League, there wouldn’t be as much pressure on him as there is at Chelsea.”
Q: Were you surprised to see Jack Grealish snubbed by England?
Emile Mpenza things Grealish being left out by Southgate is a very strange decision.
Image: Shutterstock/Ivica Drusany
EM: “Maybe Jack Grealish needs Pep Guardiola as England manager, him not getting picked by Gareth Southgate is very strange.
“He has played very well for Manchester City and very well for England, maybe it’s because Guardiola has to choose between Jeremy Doku and Grealish.
“Grealish should be in the squad and he should be playing, I am very shocked.”
Q: When will Kevin De Bruyne leave Manchester City?
EM: “I think when Pep Guardiola leaves Manchester City, that’s when Kevin De Bruyne will leave too. They have won everything together and I think that would be best for them.
“You have to say that it’s not the same Kevin De Bruyne as the one from two or three years ago.”
Q: Is Wayne Rooney a good appointment at Plymouth?
Wayne Rooney
EM: “I had a great time at Plymouth after leaving Manchester City, even though it wasn’t for long I saw they had great fans.
“I like the appointment of Wayne Rooney because he won everything as a player, but as he knows it is a very tough league, I found it harder playing in the Championship as I did in the Premier League.
“I think Rooney can do a good job there, it’s good for the future of his career.”
Q: What did you make of Roy Keane’s criticism of Erling Haaland?
EM: “There has been criticism of Roy Keane, but it depends what you want from your strikers. Do you want him to join in with the other 10 players or stay up front and score a lot of goals.
“For me, when he scores and they win then it’s not important what he has done in the rest of the game, can you criticise him when he scores so many goals and they win trophies? No.
“Maybe Roy Keane criticised him because he used to play for Manchester United.”
Q: What was Micah Richards like as a team-mate?
EM: “I knew Micah Richards well when we played together for Manchester City, he was only young but you could see he had so much quality already.
“I am so happy to see him doing well as a pundit because he had some bad injuries during his career, if he didn’t have those injuries then he could’ve become one of England’s best players, that was his quality.”
Q: Who could replace Pep Guardiola next season?
EM: “I don’t know who could replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City because he has won absolutely everything. As soon as someone comes in and they don’t win the Premier League, it has already been a failure.
“Seeing Arsenal play so well and win so many games and not winning the Premier League says everything, that’s why he is the best coach in the world.
“Pep Guardiola is a legend for Manchester City.
“You can look at Vincent Kompany who has a great test at Bayern Munich, we saw he was a good coach in getting Burnley promoted from the Championship, it will be interesting to see how he does.”
