ユーロ２０１２プレーオフドロー決定！！

Draw for the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs(uefa.com)

The draw for the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs in Krakow today produced a repeat of the epic quarter-final from 2008 when Turkey eliminated Croatia on penalties.

On 20 June 2008 in Vienna, Croatia were on the verge of a semi-final place after Ivan Klasnić struck in the 119th minute only for Semih Şentürk to score a dramatic equaliser in the dying seconds. Turkey won the shoot-out to progress to a last-four meeting against Germany which they lost 3-2.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Portugal will also be renewing ties after the Portuguese edged a play-off between the sides for the 2010 FIFA World Cup 2-0 on aggregate. The two teams in contention with no previous play-off experience, Estonia and Montenegro, drew the Republic of Ireland and the Czech Republic respectively.

Play-off draw
Turkey v Croatia
Estonia v Republic of Ireland
Czech Republic v Montenegro
Bosnia and Herzegovina v Portugal

First legs: 11/12 November
Second legs: 15 November

Play-off records
Bosnia and Herzegovina – P1 L1
Croatia – P2 W2
Czech Republic – P2 W1 L1
Estonia – N/A
Montenegro – N/A
Portugal – P1 W1
Republic of Ireland – P5 W1 L4
Turkey – P4 W3 L1

Already qualified
Co-hosts: Poland and Ukraine
Group winners: Spain (holders), Germany, Russia, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Greece, England, and Denmark
Best runners-up: Sweden

Final tournament draw: 2 December in Kyiv, 18.00CET (20.00 local time)
Final tournament: 8 June–1 July
Final tournament venues: Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw (Poland); Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv (Ukraine)

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, who conducted the draw alongside former Poland forward and tournament ambassador Zbigniew Boniek, said: "There are two important reasons why we are here in Krakow today. First of all, this draw is a key milestone on the road that is taking us closer to the final tournament to be played in Poland and Ukraine in June next year. This is the third play-off draw in UEFA EURO history, but actually the first one to be held in one of the host countries.

"The second reason for us being here in Krakow is of utmost importance for football as a whole and linked to our mission to protect the essential values of our sport and to eradicate a major threat: illegal betting and match-fixing. It's for this second reason that UEFA is joining the European sports ministers meeting [this afternoon to discuss these issues]."

ユーロ２０１２のプレイオフラウンドのドローがポーランドのクラクフで行われ、本戦への残り４つの椅子を８チームが争う組み合わせが決定した。

前大会セミファイナルに進出したトルコはクォーターファイナルで対戦したクロアチアと激突。最終節でトップから滑り落ちたポルトガルは成長が著しいボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナと、エストニアはワールドカップ南アフリカ大会プレーオフでアンリのハンドでフランスに切符を奪われたアイルランドと、復活を目指すチェコはイングランドを追い詰めたモンテネグロと対戦することになった。

どのゲームも厳しいことにかわりはないが、決定力に難を抱えるポルトガルがうまく入れなければボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナに足を掬われる可能性はある。

面白い戦いになりそうだが、本大会出場への渇望はどのチームも同じ。最後はどこが笑うのだろうか。

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。