The countdown to UEFA Euro 2012 is officially on!
51-teams from across Europe will compete for just 14 available spots at the European Championships to be held June 8 – July 1, 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Today, UEFA held its draw for the qualifying campaign.
Notes:
1. Winner of each group advances to Euro 2012
2. Best Runner Up (based on points against top 5 teams in their group) will advance to Euro 2012
3. All remaining 2nd place teams will play in a home-and-away playoff… the four winners advance to Euro 2012
4. As hosts, Poland and Ukraine have already qualified for Euro 2012.
5. Qualifying begins September 2010 and runs until October 2011
GROUP A
Germany
Turkey
Austria
Belgium
Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan
Germany may face some resistance against Turkey but barring a complete meltdown, I expect the three time Champions to finish first in this group. I also think Turkey will be safe in finishing second.
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GROUP B
Russia
Slovakia
Republic of Ireland
FYR Macedonia
Armenia
Andorra
After being robbed of a spot at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, I suspect the Republic of Ireland will do everything in their power to ensure they qualify directly to Euro 2012 and not have to worry about a playoff. Russia and Slovakia will be difficult opponents but I'm convinced the Republic of Ireland will finish first with the Russians and Slovakians battling it out for second spot. I'll give the edge to Russia.
GROUP C
Italy
Serbia
Northern Ireland
Slovenia
Estonia
Faroe Islands
The Azzuri will have their work cut out for them in this group. Both Serbia and Slovenia have qualified for the 2010 World Cup and Northern Ireland just missed out on a playoff spot. It will be a very difficult group to say the least but I believe the Italians will find a way to finish first… as for second… I'm going to go with Serbia.
GROUP D
France
Romania
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Belarus
Albania
Luxembourg
On paper, France should have an easy time with this group. In reality, it'll be the opposite. Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina will be no pushovers and will make life extremely difficult for the French. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Bosnia-Herzegovina will finish in first place with the French coming in second.
GROUP E
Netherlands
Sweden
Finland
Hungary
Moldova
San Marino
I'm proclaiming this to be the "Group of Death" so many quality teams! You'd have to think the Dutch will finish first – but Sweden, Finland and Hungary are all more than capable of pulling off the upset. I'm going to go with my gut feeling and say Holland advances and Sweden will finish in second.
GROUP F
Croatia
Greece
Israel
Latvia
Georgia
Malta
Another tough group. Any combination of Croatia, Greece and Israel could move on… I'm going to put Croatia in first and I'll say Israel finishes in second – stunning the 2004 European Champions, Greece, in the process.
GROUP G
England
Switzerland
Bulgaria
Wales
Montenegro
A fairly simple group for Fabio Capello's English squad. England will face some competition from the Swiss but should win both games. England will finish first and Switzerland will finish second.
GROUP H
Portugal
Denmark
Norway
Cyprus
Iceland
Portugal and Denmark will meet again. The two were paired in the qualifying group for World Cup 2010 and are now back together once again. Denmark had the edge in the 2010 qualifying but time will tell how it plays out for 2012. If not for a late second half meltdown, Portugal would have beat Denmark in their first encounter in the 2010 qualifiers… so with that, I'll give the edge to Portugal and say Denmark finishes in second place.
GROUP I
Spain (defending champions)
Czech Republic
Scotland
Lithuania
Liechtenstein
The defending champions, Spain, will face some difficult opponents in the Czech Republic and Scotland. With that said, Spain is a solid team that should have no trouble finishing first. My instinct says the Czech's will finish in second place but I'm going to call for an upset – Scotland will finish second!
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