Fabio Capello’s England will face old rivals Wales in their Euro 2012 qualification campaign after the draw was made yesterday for the qualifying round for the tournament to be held in the Ukraine and Poland.
England have drawn John Toshack’s Wales side in Group G, as well as Montenegro, Bulgaria and Switzerland for a place at Euro 2012, with the qualifiers set to begin in September.
The Welsh failed to qualify for this summer’s World Cup in South Africa, but the Italian will not be taking the Welsh lightly with plenty of sporting rivalry between the two British nations.
Switzerland, under former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, are ranked 18th by FIFA, while Bulgaria could also present some problems.
“I think every game will be really tough,” Capello said. “[We will face] really good teams. It’ll be really interesting and impossible for us to relax in any game.”
Euro 2008 winners Spain, who beat Germany 1-0 to claim the Henri Delauney trophy in Vienna on June 29, 2008, face arguably their biggest test against the Czech Republic, as well as Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein in Group I.
Joachim Loew-coached Germany have drawn 1980 finalists Belgium, as well as neighbors Austria, Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in Group A.
Current World Cup holders Italy, who had a poor Euro 2008 campaign by their own standards, have drawn World Cup qualifiers Serbia, as well as Slovenia, Estonia, the Faroe Islands and Northern Ireland in Group C.
World Cup runners-up France, who had drawn the Republic of Ireland in Saturday’s practice draw, are up against Romania, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group D.
The Republic of Ireland, who missed out on a place at this summer’s World Cup after losing to France in a qualifier in Paris last November despite a clear handball by Thierry Henry, have drawn Russia. The Irish and Russians are joined in Group B by Armenia, Andorra, FYR Macedonia and Slovenia.
The Netherlands, who won in 1988, have arguably the toughest group in the competition. They will face Sweden, Hungary, Finland, Moldova and minnows San Marino in Group E.
Euro 2008 quarter-finalists Croatia under coach Slaven Bilic will have Euro 2004 winners Greece to overcome in Group F, where they have also drawn Malta, Georgia, Latvia and Israel.
Denmark, who were crowned champions of Europe in 1992, face Portugal in Group H, along with Iceland, Cyprus and Norway.
The winners of the nine groups and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament.
The eight remaining runners-up will have to battle it out in play-off matches to decide which teams grab the remaining four spots.
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