2016 Copa & Euro Preview

48 hours and change before the US kicks off against Columbia in California. You've probably already started seeing the advertisements with Kobe in a suit holding a soccer ball.

So, 48 hours and change to get your shit together, bracket wise. To help inspire you, below are 10 things to know about the pool and two tournaments:

1. A strategy for filling out the pool itself-- there are 82 total games to pick, plus ten group winners, and four tiebreaker questions. That makes 96 decisions, but all but the last fourteen are binary. Three seconds per pick totals to less than 5 minutes total to complete. From there, tinker as desired.

2. Neymar (of Brazil and Barcelona) is not playing in the Copa. He's playing in the Olympics in Rio instead, because that's more important to him/them as the host nation. Luis Suarez (of Uruguay and also Barcelona) will be traveling Stateside, but is a question mark due to a hamstring injury ten days ago in their cup final.

3. Messi (of Argentina and also also Barcelona) is coming. James Rodriguez (of Columbia and no, Real Madrid this time) is coming. Also coming is Christian Pulisic, 17-year-old boy wonder from Pennsylvania, who has broken into the starting lineup of Borussia Dortmund. (and maybe the American's too?) Please play him.

4. Chile is sort of defending their title as winners of the Copa America last summer. This "Centenario" tournament is an extension of that, including North America this time as a celebration of 100 years of the Copa America. Therefore, "La Copa del Siglo" is not technically a "Copa America". Different trophy, too. Anyway, Alexis Sánchez is good.

5. The Copa starts this Friday (June 3rd), and goes through two more weekends. The final is in the Meadowlands on the June 26th. Euro doesn't start for another week, and has eight more teams. Those extra teams make it about a week longer, with the final taking place on July 10th in Paris. 

6. The European Championship is for all the marbles. Full strength squads, as long as you don't include Giovinco and Pirlo.

7. The defending champs are Spain, who capped a three championship run in major tournaments with their victory in 2012. (08 EC - 10 WC - 12 EC). They've since fallen to earth in Brazil 2014, at the hands of the Dutch (1-5 L) and Chileans (0-2 L) in the group stages. Speaking of the Netherlands... they failed to qualify.

8. World Cup winners Deutschland return nearly the same squad that won them the Cup in 2014, minus ageless wonder Miroslav Klose. The Germans have strength from Bayern Munich, with stars like GK Manuel Neuer, attacking midfielders Thomas Müller and Mario Götze, and the stout Jérôme Boateng. However, Mario Gomez (of Turkish club Beşiktaş) will carry much of the striker burden for Germany, as Bayern Munich's top scorer Robert Lewandowski hails from rival and group stage opponent Poland.

9. The hosts, France, are primed for a run of their own at Euro. A strong quarterfinals appearance in 2014 ended at the hands of the Germans in a 1-0 defeat, but they've reloaded with the emergence of young Leicester City midfielder N'Golo Kanté, and the continued good play of Paul Pogba of Juventus, and Olivier Giroud of Arsenal. They won the World Cup on their own soil in 1998, and the Euro on their own soil in 1984. Just sayin'.

10. Pick all the favourites. Just, all of them. And spend no time thinking about those silly third place teams that make the knockout round.