. We test whether the career prospect of being selected to a Euro Cup national team affects players' pre-Cup performances … prospect has positive effects on the performances of players with intermediate chances of being selected to their national team …

. We test whether the career prospect of being selected to a Euro Cup national team affects players' pre-Cup performances … prospect has positive effects on the performances of players with intermediate chances of being selected to their national team …

. We test whether the career prospect of being selected to a Euro Cup national team affects players’ pre-Cup performances … team, but negative effects on the performances of players whose selection is very probable. Our findings have implications …