UEFA 2012 European Championship Finals – The Draw
Friday 02 December 2011 (08.45 am)
Later today the draw for the UEFA 2012 European Championship Finals takes place in Kiev. Sixteen teams will be drawn into four Groups from four seeded pots. Each Group will be made up of a team from each Pot. From Pot 1 Poland have already been drawn in Group A and Ukraine in Group D for logistical reasons. This leaves Netherlands and Spain from Pot 1. Pot 2 contains England, Germany, Italy and Russia. Pot 3 consists of Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Sweden, with Pot 4 made up of the Czech Republic, Denmark, France and Republic of Ireland.
This morning the various forms of media will be highlighting the best and worst case draws that England could finds themselves with. For instance the BBC see the best case scenario as being drawn with Poland, Greece and Czech Republic with the worst case scenario would see England in with Spain, Portugal and France. To me it makes no real difference, as if you are going to win a tournament you have to play and beat the best teams irrespective of what stage you play them at.
Rest assured though that Signor Capello has already got his excuses in early as he has been banging on about how tired the players will be since the 2-2 draw with Switzerland back in June this year. However, for now the tournament is 6 months away, but tonight the pressure will be cranked up slightly as The Three Lions will know who they will be facing come June 2012.
Friday 02 December 2011 (7.00 pm)
Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic.
Group B: Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal.
Group C: Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia.
Group D: Ukraine, Sweden, France, England.
Well it could have been worse and to use that football cliché, ‘on paper’ we should qualify, but this is England we are talking about! The Group featuring Sweden, France and Ukraine will bring back memories of Euro ’92 when England were also paired with the Swedes (who were the host nation), the French and the Danes. England under Graham Taylor finished bottom of the Group, with 0-0 draws with both Denmark and France and then a 2-1 defeat to Sweden. England with a team including Tony Daley, Andy Sinton and Carlton Palmer went ahead in the fourth minute through a David Platt goal. However, strikes from Eriksson and Tomas Brolin, ensured the hosts progressed and condemned The Three Lions to an early plane home.
England has also further tournament experience with the French. At Euro 2004 in Portugal, England opened their Group campaign against France. Three points seemed in the bag as on 90 minutes, as England was leading with a first half Frank Lampard goal. However, Zinedine Zidane had other ideas and scored twice on 91 and 93 minutes to snatch victory…sacré bleu!
So history certainly isn’t on England’s side. For now, lets just park it for 6 months. Que sera sera….