Euro 2012 Draw: The Reaction
By:Ian
2010-02-08
This weekend’s draw in Warsaw has seen the nine groups decided for the European 2012 qualifiers with the ultimate aim of whittling the teams down to the 14 qualifiers who will join hosts Poland in Ukraine to decide the Champions of Europe come the summer of 2012.
The draw in full;
GROUP A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan
GROUP B: Russia, Slovakia, Rep of Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra
GROUP C: Italy, Serbia, N.Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands
GROUP D: France, Romania, Bosnia Herz., Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg
GROUP E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino
GROUP F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta
GROUP G: England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro
GROUP H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland
GROUP I: Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein
The draw was, for once, surprisingly even across the board with none of the seeds really able to claim that they had the better of the draw. Spain, Germany and France probably just have slightly the easier task of qualifying on paper, but even their groups still contain some tough away games for the seeds to negotiate.
Certainly the mood in Spain after the draw was buoyant with Radio station Cadena COPE stating “none of the teams in the group should give Spain serious problems” and Radio Marca pointing out that the Czech Republic are a team “in clear decline”, whilst stating that Scotland and Lithuania “have never before given Spain problems in the qualifying groups.”
Germany coach Jochen Low remains confident his side will progress despite the draw forcing his side to travel to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan as well as drawing a potential tough draw from pot four in Belgium. “Obviously Germany will be favourites along with Turkey” he observed.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink was pleased to see his Russia team in pot one, but also admitted he was focused on what looks like a tough couple of games coming up against Geovanni Trappatoni’s Ireland. "I don't know him well but I know he's an old fox, he knows football and he's a very committed coach and I like that very much. What he's achieved with Ireland is amazing." Stated the Dutchman.
Swedish head coach Erik Hamren admitted his side were drawn in “an exciting group” and stated "We have a possibility of advancing and that is of course our ambition. We'll fight it out with Hungary and Finland primarily, but also give the Netherlands a run for first place. The way I see it, the Dutch are favourites."
Less happy is England boss Fabio Capello who warned "I think that the worst group was A and G, and we will play in G. It is a tough group."
The Italian added: "I prefer the smaller group because we play less games, but it is tough. The group is very tough."
The first games of the qualifying round will start in September 2010 with the final games played in October 2011 and the play offs in November 2011.
