Official Euro 2012 Thread

Seftinho · November 19, 2009

Two years, eight months, two weeks and a few days until Euro 2012 kicks off, we're getting close people!

Actually, the seedings for the Qualifying groups have just been announced, so when better to create a thread?

Actually (again), I created this thread to discuss the possible groups, because some of the pots are interesting and I'm bored (No JD in this week's Scrubs, not the same ). May as well turn it into an official thread, and it'll be interesting to see in two years, eight months and a few weeks time if this topic is or is not the thread being used. I'm guessing not, but what the hell.

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These are the pots:

Pot One: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia.

Pot Two: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania.

Pot Three: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Pot Four: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus.

Pot Five: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia,Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.

Pot Six: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino

Notable names in Pot A are France, Portugal and Croatia, two of which scraped into the WC via a play-off and the third who didn't even qualify. I can fully understand how the first two are here, after having a look at the second pot, but I'm surprised Croatia made it.

In Pot B the teams I'd want to avoid are Czech Republic, Sweden and Serbia. Over the next couple of years the latter two could become pretty strong, with the likes of Berg, Jonsson, Lundberg, Noring/Nordfeldt and a few others climbing the Sweden ranks to join Ibrahimovic and Kallstrom, whilst we all know of Serbia's talent. Czech Republic can be inconsistent, but on their day they are a team to fear. And they do have Petr Cech.

In Pot C Ireland and Bosnia are the teams you wouldn't want to draw. Both just missed out on qualifying for the WC, and have proved they can mix it with the best of them. On their day, they can prove a real challenge for the top seeds. No offense to any Scottish fans, but I don't really fear Scotland at all. The only way I would, is if they follow England and Ireland and go for an experienced, very good foreign manager to get the very best out of the Scottish players, but the current contenders don't look like they could do this.

Pot D have Slovenia, somehow, despite actually reaching the World Cup. They've proved they can mix it with some of the higher seeds and although most top seeds should have no problems with them, they're still a thread. Belgium have very much under-achieved recently, but with some top talents which include Fellaini, Witsel, Defour, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Bailly/Steppe, Vanden Borre, Kompany, Pocognoli, Carcela-Gonzalez, Hazard, Lamah, Mirallas and Dembele. Actually, that's pretty much all of them, but that's a lot of big prospects! Under the right manager, they should really be challenging the big teams. And you can't go without mentioning Wales, also with some very big potential stars in the making. Hennesey, Ramsey, Ledley, Bale, Matthews, Gunter, Nyatanga, Evans, Vokes, Church, Cotterill, King, Allen, and some lesser known ones like Taylor, Bodin, the Evans bros, Williams, Craig and Newman.

Pot E have Montenegro. A country very much on the rise, with some top talents in Vucinic and Jovetic. The rest are all minor teams.

No teams of mention in the bottom Pot.

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As an England fan, the worst draw I could imagine would be Serbia, Ireland, Belgium, Montenegro and Azerbaijan (highest ranked of the bottom pot). Of those, all but the bottom seed could well be fighting for top spot.

The best possible draw in my eyes would be Slovakia, Northern Ireland (no offense), Lithuania (sorry Tom), Liechtenstein and San Marino.

The ideal group would be England, Turkey, Scotland, Wales, Georgia and San Marino.

Turkey because of the rivalry, and because my mate's Turkish, don't think I need to give my reason for Scotland, Wales simply because of the rivalry, Georgia because Kaladze and Kvirkvelia's defending is comical and San Marino because I don't think we've ever played them. At least, not in my lifetime.

Of the top seeds, you'd want to avoid Spain at all costs. The likes of Holland, Germany, England and Italy would be expected to win their groups without too many problems, but at the same time the lower seeds will know that they all have the potential to slip up. France and Portugal have some world class players but problems elsewhere with management and motivation. The lower seeds would fancy their chances with these, but if they can sort out their problems (in France's case sack their manage), they could well storm their groups. Croatia and Russia would be the ones you'd want to draw, Croatia particularly after a dismal qualifying campaign. Russia to be fair had Germany, but if Slovenia of Pot 4 can beat them, then the rest of the teams would fancy their chances in a group with Russia.

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There's my long-winded thoughts. Discuss. Or just ignore this and let this topic rot.

KNVB · November 19, 2009