EURO 2012 Draw, Sunday 10.45am

5 February 2010 No Comment

euro2012

It doesn’t seem like five minutes since England qualified for the World Cup Finals at a canter from their relatively easy group. And the excitement of the World Cup Finals draw that spilled over into Charlize Theron-shaped ebullience is less than 3 month ago. And yet, in Warsaw on Sunday, the perpetual qualification process resumes as the draw for the 2012 European Championships takes place.

And it couldn’t have come at a more inopportune moment for England coach Fabio Capello.

Amidst a deluge of negative press coverage surrounding the allegations over his captain’s adulterous behavior, and tired from having steadfastly deflected flak from a large percentage of the English public as they continue their misguided condemnation of John Terry, Capello will have to shrug it off and put on a cheery countenance and represent the nation in the Polish capital as all eyes (and cameras) will be on the beleaguered Italian.

If that wasn’t bad enough, he’ll have to bend his face into another enforced smile when England are no doubt pulled out against San bloody Marino or, more likely, Andorra for the third consecutive qualifying campaign.

England are seeded in Pot 1, which means they avoid the big boys of Europe. But there are some big guns lurking in Pot 2, with the likes of Greece, the Czechs, Sweden, the Swiss, Serbia and Turkey all capable of challenging a top seeded side for the top spot in the group.

Robbie Keane's Ireland are in Pot 3 and are best avoided

In Pot 3, meanwhile, Capello may wish to avoid Norway, the Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria, as those three are potentially formidable opponents. Scotland and Northern Ireland are also in this pot, and Craig Levein has been vocal about his hopes of meeting England.

The further down the pots you go the less daunting the opposition becomes, although Belgium in Pot 4 and Montenegro in Pot 5 are falsely positioned, and may pose problems.

For Wales, who reside in Pot 4, they can expect another tough group. John Toshack’s best-case scenario would probably be a group consisting of Croatia from Pot 1, Sovakia from Pot 2 and Austria from Pot 3, and then hope for the worst of the worst from pots 5 and 6.

It’s not unfeasible that a group could emerge containing England, Wales and one from either Scotland, Northern Ireland or the Republic. Such an occurrence would result in some fierce clashes.

Sky Sports News will have coverage of the draw from 10.45 on Sunday 7th February, so you can watch the tension build and witness dull UEFA dignitaries bore the arse off of everyone with their listless protocol.

Draw procedure

Nine groups will be formed from the draw including six groups of six countries and three of five. As the tournament will be joint hosted by Poland and Ukraine, only 14 finals places are up for grabs alongside the co-hosts. And now for the technical bit: The seeding pots are formed on the basis of the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system, finalised after the completion of FIFA World Cup qualifying, with the reigning European champions automatically top seeded. All groups will contain one nation from the first five pots and six sections will also include a team from Pot 6. Clear as mud.

Qualifying competition

It’s pretty much as you’d expect with sides in each group playing one another on a home-and-away basis. The qualifiers are scheduled according to the international match calendar between September 2010 and October 2011.

The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their group qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up contest play-off matches in November 2011.

Seeding pots

Pot one:

Pot two:

Pot three:

Pot four:

Pot five:

Pot six: