EURO 2012 予選ドロー

EURO 2012 qualifying draw in full(uefa.com)

European champions Spain must negotiate a tough group including the Czech Republic if they are to defend their title in Poland and Ukraine after Sunday's UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw in Warsaw.

Vicente del Bosque's team will have to overcome the Czechs, Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein in Group I in order to reach the 2012 finals and retain a trophy they claimed in Vienna 18 months ago. Runners-up Germany, the three-time tournament winners, are in Group A alongside neighbours Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and the side they beat in a dramatic UEFA EURO 2008 semi-final, Turkey.

Italy will attempt to regain the FIFA World Cup crown in South Africa this summer, accompanied by 12 other European nations, and their task beyond that is Group C, a section including Serbia and Slovenia. England, the surprise absentees from UEFA EURO 2008, will aim to put that right in Group G against Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales and Montenegro. One of three pools of five teams, theirs is the only group in the draw that does not feature a former UEFA European Championship winner.

Qualifying explained
Fifty-one countries participated in the draw, which was conducted by four famous names from Polish and Ukrainian football: Andriy Shevchenko, Andrzej Szarmach, Oleg Blokhin and Zbigniew Boniek. The groups will be contested according to a league system on a home-and-away basis, with games scheduled between September 2010 and October 2011.

The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record against the top five sides in their pool qualify directly for the final tournament, the last before the championship is expanded to 24 teams. The eight remaining runners-up go into play-off matches in November 2011 to decide the final four sides to join co-hosts Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw

Group A
Germany
Turkey
Austria
Belgium
Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan

Group B
Russia
Slovakia
Republic of Ireland
FYR Macedonia
Armenia
Andorra

Group C
Italy
Serbia
Northern Ireland
Slovenia
Estonia
Faroe Islands

Group D
France
Romania
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Belarus
Albania
Luxembourg

Group E

Netherlands
Sweden
Finland
Hungary
Moldova
San Marino

Group F
Croatia
Greece
Israel
Latvia
Georgia
Malta

Group G
England
Switzerland
Bulgaria
Wales
Montenegro

Group H
Portugal
Denmark
Norway
Cyprus
Iceland

Group I
Spain
Czech Republic
Scotland
Lithuania
Liechtenstein

Bye to finals (hosts)
Poland
Ukraine

今回はビッグアップセットが起こりそうもないドローに見える。だが、ヨーロッパの予選はそう見えて強豪国が予選で消えていった歴史の繰り返しだ。シードと言えども楽ではない。過去には弱小国のラトビアが本戦出場を決めたこともあるし、イングランドも敗退したこともある。

本戦以上に予選が面白いのがヨーロッパ。日本と環境が違うのがうらやましい。