The Iceman of the North Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 UEFA Group 1 Portugal Sweden Denmark Hungary Albania Malta Group 2 Greece Israel Switzerland Moldova Latvia Luxembourg Group 3 Czech Republic Poland Northern Ireland Slovakia Slovenia San Marino Group 4 Germany Russia Finland Wales Azerbaijan Liechtenstein Group 5 Spain Turkey Belgium Bosnia-Herzegovina Armenia Estonia Group 6 Croatia England Ukraine Belarus Kazakhstan Andorra Group 7 France Romania Serbia Lithuania Austria Faroe Islands Group 8 Italy Bulgaria Ireland Cyprus Georgia Montenegro Group 9 Netherlands Scotland Norway Macedonia Iceland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 The full European draw, as follows Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland I would say group 1 is probably the hardest, whereas France seem to have an easy ride in group 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 Apparently the African qualifiers are already in their first round. Does anyone know the draw there? I'd like to see where Nigeria is. If they don't qualify this year, especially with the WC being in Africa, I might actually cry. And grown-ass men just do not cry. The first two rounds are done. The draw for the third round will start any minute now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiddly Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Not enough we get the scots again, but the dutchies as well? Bloody fifa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koudoulis Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 hello we are so going to the WC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Apparently the African qualifiers are already in their first round. Does anyone know the draw there? I'd like to see where Nigeria is. If they don't qualify this year, especially with the WC being in Africa, I might actually cry. And grown-ass men just do not cry. The first round has already happened, as a result of which Comoros, Somalia, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and PrÃncipe and the Central African Republic have been knocked out. The remaining teams are going to be drawn in 12 groups of 4 today, with the winners and 8 best runners up going to a second group stage, five groups of four with the group winners qualifying (also, the top three in each group in the second stage will qualify for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, hence South Africa taking part, although if they win their group then the second place team will get the WC spot). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino. Not bad at all. Czechs are tough but not impossible, the rest we should manage. We don't have to go very far which is also nice (except Northern Ireland, and it also isn't Kazakhstan. I wanted above all to avoid Germany and Denmark which always were difficult adversaries to us (Poland never in history won a match against Germany. Not even one). The groups are once again badly unequal. Greece looks sure to qualify, and Portugal loos to have the toughest groups from the first basket teams. England and Scotland also had little luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 UEFA Group 1 Portugal Sweden Denmark Hungary Albania Malta Ah, not too shabby. We get Denmark again, but I think we've got the upper hand on them now, so I'm not too worried. Hungary we've met several times in the last few years and never lost to and Albania and Malta are nothing to worry about. Then we get to Portugal. It's going to be tough, but I'd rather that we got them instead of some of the other teams in the first seeding group. What do you say cteresa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 So, thoughts about the groups: 1: How do Sweden and Denmark always end up in the same group? While Portugal are currently the strongest team here, both Sweden and Denmark have the potential to beat them and Hungary might be capable of a surprise. No trips to Siberia for you this time around, Teresa 2: Greece, Israel and Switzerland will be the contenders here 3: Czech Republic and Poland are favourites here, though Slovakia (who have to play their former compatriots yet again) are not to be underestimated 4: I don't rate Russia all that highly, but this is a really weak group and so I guess they will be favourites to take second place 5: Spain and Turkey to fight for the top spot, I doubt Belgium will be able to sneak into second place 6: Oh, England will have to contend with Croatia yet again (seriously, what's with all these teams meeting up again after the Euro qualifiers?) and Ukraine are not to be underestimated 7: While France are favourites, Serbia and Romania could mount a serious challenge 8: Italy are overwhelming favourites, Bulgaria and Ireland will be fighting for second place 9: Can Scotland keep their form from the Euro qualifying campaign? In that case, Holland might be in trouble and even Norway shouldn't be underestimated The groups are once again badly unequal. Greece looks sure to qualify, and Portugal loos to have the toughest groups from the first basket teams. England and Scotland also had little luck. I disagree, most groups have about 2-3 teams that can finish first, we (Gemany) and Italy probably have the easiest draw, relatively speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 CAF Group 1 Cameroon Cape Verde Islands Tanzania Mauritius Group 2 Guinea Zimbabwe Namibia Kenya Group 3 Angola Benin Uganda Niger Group 4 Nigeria South Africa Equatorial Guinea Sierra Leone Group 5 Ghana Libya Gabon Lesotho Group 6 Senegal Algeria Liberia Gambia Group 7 Ivory Coast Mozambique Botswana Madagascar Group 8 Morocco Ethiopia Rwanda Mauritius Group 9 Tunisia Burkina Faso Burundi Seychelles Group 10 Mali Congo Sudan Chad Group 11 Togo Zambia Eritrea Swaziland Group 12 Egypt Dem. Rep. Congo Malawi Djibouti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Great. I had to mention the Italians, didn't I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 1: How do Sweden and Denmark always end up in the same group? While Portugal are currently the strongest team here, both Sweden and Denmark have the potential to beat them and Hungary might be capable of a surprise. No trips to Siberia for you this time around, Teresa We've only had Denmark in our group once in the last ten years, so it's not that weird. Hungary OTOH we met in the WC 2006 and the EC 2004 qualifications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 We've only had Denmark in our group once in the last ten years In qualifying, yes. But both Sweden and Denmark also also shared a group with Italy at Euro 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horus Ex Machina Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 CAF Group 1 Cameroon Cape Verde Islands Tanzania Mauritius Easy road to round 2 for Cameroon. Group 5 Ghana Libya Gabon LesothoGhana should sleepwalk through this. Group 4 Nigeria South Africa Equatorial Guinea Sierra LeoneOnly S. Africa worries me here. But we shoud be good enough for at least the qualifying runner up spot. None of the other two teams worry me at all. Thanks for the post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Doesn't South Africa qualify as home team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horus Ex Machina Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Doesn't South Africa qualify as home team? Yeah, but they're playing anyway in order to qualify for the African Cup of Nations. If they win their second round group, then the runner-up will take their spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Group 1 - Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta - Wow. Hardest group. One of the tougher "minnows", they didn't draw someone you expect to steamroll like San Marino or Luxembourg. Sweden and Denmark are definitely up to the task of pushing Portugal for the automatic spot. I wouldn't be especially surprised to see Portugal come 3rd in this group - but they still should make at least the Play-Off spot. Group 2 - Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg - All of them will be happy with this group. Bottom team in Pot A and bottom team in Pot B. Could have been much, much harder and I think is an easy group - Greece should waltz through, though I think the Swiss will take 2nd. Group 3 - Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino - Poland are resurgent. They were poor in the 2006 World Cup but had a good qualifying campaign and are going to Euro 2008 - something that can't be said about England. I think this group will go the way of the seeds in the positions that matter, but Slovakia will top Northern Ireland who outplayed themselves in the Euro campaign. Group 4 - Germany, Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein - Germany are hot, hot favourites to come through this with the automatic place in their back pocket. After that it's wide open. Russia, Finland and Wales are all capable of doing it on the day - and at the same time, they are equally capable of losing when they shouldn't. I fancy Finland to surprise the Russians and come away in second, with Russia and Wales following on. Group 5 - Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia - Spain. They may not do it in the tournaments, but at least they qualify for them. It has to be them and Turkey following up in this group. Group 6 - Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra - Couldn't write the script any better from an English point of view. They've got the Croats again and they won't even need a team talk to get fired up for those games. It's exactly what the new manager needs - provided he wins the games, of course. Still, I think the Croats are an underrated team and they'll go through. England could face another surprise sit at home in the summer of 2010 if Ukraine play to their potential - as they did when they reached the QF of the 2006 World Cup. But England will be eager not to fail again, so I tip them to pip Ukraine. Just. I'm not going to pay much attention to the Belarus/Holland game as an indication of their hopes of getting through this group. The best they can hope for is scalping 2 of the top 3 teams at home. Group 7 - France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands - Someone tell me where most of the Serbia & Montenegro players fall following the split? They were a talented country going in the right direction before that. Depending on who goes where will affect my perception of their chances. I expect this to go with the seeds. Group 8 - Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro - As an Irish fan, this is a disappointing group to be in. Cyprus stuffed us in the Euro qualifying, Georgia beat Scotland (who look infinitely better than Ireland in the last couple of years) and Montenegro are a largely unknown entity. And that's just the teams seeded lower than us. Italy are reigning world champions, and Bulgaria have the individual talent Ireland don't in Berbatov (when he's not sulking) and Petrov, to name just those I know of from the Premiership. Group 9 - Holland, Scotland, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland - Very, very open. Holland are misfiring and prone to losing their heads on the day. Scotland could very easily take 4 of the 6 points in those fixtures. Just as Scotland have improved greatly since their playoff with Holland, so Holland have degenerated. Norway are typically dangerous and were top of Pot C, so they're not going to be easy. I'll go out on a limb and predict that Scotland qualify automatically while Norway take second. ETA: Bold for my tips on auto spot, and italic for playoff spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cteresa Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Not enough we get the scots again, but the dutchies as well? Bloody fifa. it´s like a northern sea reunion, no? Macedonia looks way lost there. Regarding our group, yupi, geographically no asian teams. Scolari is still in charge of the negotiations and will with look get us a deal for the travelling which is not too bad. Regarding "easy" or not, Sweden is obviously a very respectable adversary, they qualified for 5(&?) tournaments in a row, one more than us! Denmark, pretty respectable as well. But looking at pot 2 and 3, obviously there are teams there who can, if they are having a good day, beat anybody on pot 1! This draw looks at least less physically punishing than the one for the euro - we had 14 games, the biggest group, and no to play half the soviet union. Plus Finland, Serbia, Poland and these other troglodites. It´s too early to tell for sure or be particularly optimistic, specially since we don´t know who will be our manager next september. There are worse groups ( Spain might find they have to work for it, as well as Germany) and I am with Koudolis, if Greece does not qualify out of that, they better quit football. I got a rant though, what do we have to do for somebody to let us play with San Marino?!?! Teacher, the bigger boys are monopolizing it and never ever let us play! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 DJ, it's only the matches against the team ending as number 1, 3, 4 & 5 that counts when assigning who will get the play-off spots, so being in a 5 or 6 team group is largely irrelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 DJ, it's only the matches against the team ending as number 1, 3, 4 & 5 that counts when assigning who will get the play-off spots, so being in a 5 or 6 team group is largely irrelevant. Oh. That's cool. I'll go back and look again to see who I think is the worst second team, then. And you shouldn't change your name. If you had changed your avatar too I would have had no idea who you were! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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