The two-time reigning champs, Spain will open up their campaign against the Czech Republic. La Roja are trying to become the first nation to win the event three straight times, but have suddenly been rocked by allegations that one of their goalkeepers, David de Gea, is involved in a sex scandal. The team has tried to distance themselves from the conflict -- and instead say they have a point to prove. 

If events really do come along in threes… then Spain appears set for more celebrations over the next month.The 2008 and 2012 European Championship winners arrive in France in confident mood. The coach, Vicente Del Bosque, knows the other teams will be desperate to knock his side off its perch… but del Bosque believes his team can handle that pressure.

"At the very least, we know how we're going to play. It's very important to have a general plan of what we're going to do. I'm not saying we'll be inflexible, but you should at least have a general plan. And the signs now are fantastic," said Vicente Del Bosque Spain coach.

Spain will need to hit the ground running, given their group contains the Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia.That point is not lost on the players.

"All 23 of us have to be at our best. We all have to give our best. In the Euros we're used to going straight from the group to the quarter finals, but now there's another game which makes the competition even more difficult. But we face it with a lot of hope and a lot of enthusiasm," said CESC Fabregas Spain midfielder.

"It would be quite some achievement if Spain can make it a hat-trick of European Championship titles here in France. But with the embarrassment of World Cup 2014 still fresh in the memory with the team failing to advance from the group stage, even Spanish journalists are unsure what to expect," said Dan Williams Paris.

"It's unknown. It's true that we're defending our titles that we won 4 years ago in Kiev and 8 years ago in Vienna. But it's also true that we went out of our last tournament with one of the biggest disappointments in the history of Spanish football. So it's in no-man's land, really," said Eduardo Castelao Spanish journalist.

Spain may have endured a torrid time in Brazil… But if anything, that has only given the players further motivation to triumph here.