England06.net

Posts Tagged ‘Scotland’

James welcomes Kevin McCarra, Paul Doyle and Barry Glendenning up to near-earth-orbit to thrash out the week’s football news.

Keeper Essam El Hadari and a linesman error helped England to a 3-1 win over African Champions Egypt, but what did we learn from the friendly? And has John Terry lost his form at the worst possible time?

After Scotland throw the kilt-wearing monkey off their backs by winning a home friendly after 5,000 odd days, the pod wonder whether new manager Craig Leven is the best man for the job.

As Spain win their 41st game out of 45, Sid Lowe gushes at great length about the wonderflulness of the European Champions. Passports permitting, would any of England’s players get in the Spanish squad?

There’s also news of crowd trouble between different PSG ultra groups, blasphemy in Italy and the Red Knights that may or may not like to say ‘Ni’.

Have a listen and post your thoughts on the blog below. We’re also on iTunes, Facebook, and Twitter, and if you like this type of juvenile humour, get your daily dose with our tea-timely email, The Fiver.

For full story go to here

• Spain remain top in front of Brazil and Holland
• Germany move to fifth ahead of Portugal

England have moved up one place to eighth in the latest Fifa rankings by swapping places with Argentina.

Fabio Capello’s side face Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt, who have dropped seven places to 17th, at Wembley this evening.

Germany switch places with Portugal to move up to fifth while Euro 2004 champions Greece (10th) are back in the top 10 for the first time since June 2008.

Spain remain in first place ahead of Brazil and Holland, while The Republic of Ireland have dropped two places to 39th with Northern Ireland up one place in 40th. Scotland have also moved up one place to 45th but Wales remain 76th.

For full story go to here

• Millennium Stadium may be shunned in favour of smaller venue
• Toshack predicts nations will struggle to agree fixture dates

The Wales manager, John Toshack, will consult his players before deciding whether to play their home Euro 2012 qualifier with England in the Millennium Stadium or a smaller and more intimidating ground.

Wales are in the same group as Fabio Capello’s side in addition to Switzerland, Montenegro and Bulgaria. Holding the match at the Millennium Stadium, with its capacity of nearly 75,000, would mean more revenue and less headaches in terms of security.

Toshack, however, admits other options to consider are the new Cardiff City Stadium (capacity 27,000) and Swansea’s Liberty complex (22,000) where they host Sweden in a friendly on 3 March.

Toshack said: “Things have changed a bit recently for us. We have got two other stadiums now. We were well pleased with the treatment we got from the Cardiff people when we played Scotland there recently.

“Swansea have a new stadium as well and we have been treated well there and play Sweden there shortly. You have to consider the atmosphere factor as well. It is early days yet. We have a fixture meeting on 15 March when it will be decided what dates we play but you don’t have to announce the venue until 90 days before a fixture.

“I will be interested to get the players’ views on that subject as well so we have got a little bit of time to decide.”

Toshack concedes England will be favourites to qualify but believes the battle for second spot is wide open. “Looking at our group, I think it is the most wide open of all of them. England will be clear favourites but I think the other four nations are all in contention.

“Between the four of us there is not a great deal to choose at all. It is difficult for anyone to predict the positions the teams will finish in. There are no ‘gimme’ fixtures for anyone. England are favourites but none of the teams are superpowers.”

Toshack locked horns with Capello just once when rival managers in Spain during the 1990s, but believes he can lead England to a successful World Cup.

“I sat next to Capello on the plane on the way over for the draw yesterday and we had a good two and a half hour conversation. On the way back he sat at the back, I sat at the front and we never said a word.

“Seriously, I am sure there will be an awful lot of interest in the game and I can see them having a good World Cup as well. Hopefully they will come back with 10 injuries and we can pick them off in September. You never know. For our players, the prospect of playing England at Wembley is a terrific incentive. If our young players get more game time in, and progress as we think they are capable of, it will be great.”

Toshack’s main concern is that Wales have more luck with injuries than in their World Cup qualifying campaign. “When you look at us and England, we have 11 players who play in the Premier League and two of them are goalkeepers. You can see the difficulties we have with four or five injuries. We need a bit of good fortune on the injury front which we never had the last time around.

“If we make mistakes or pick the wrong team, or concede late on, that’s down to us, but we would just hope to have our best players available.”

Toshack believes it will be more difficult for teams to come to an agreement over when to stage fixtures given the new guidelines which allow weekend games to be played on Friday or Saturday and all midweek fixtures on Tuesdays.

“I can see that being difficult this time around for all the groups. I can see a lot of these meetings to decide the fixtures being thrown out and it all going to Uefa to decide. A lot of countries are not accustomed to playing on Friday evening and won’t want Saturday-Tuesday either.

“In this country, our players are accustomed to playing Saturday-Tuesdays so I can see fixture meetings this time around having a lot of problems and not being easy to come to an agreement.”

For full story go to here

• Manager says Terry is ’still important’
• Capello says ‘time to move on’ from captaincy debate

Fabio Capello says John Terry, the deposed England captain, still has an integral role to play with the national team and will be one of his “most important players” at the World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Terry was stripped of the captaincy in a meeting with Capello, the England coach, and the general manager, Franco Baldini, at Wembley on Friday, following a week of allegations about his private life. The 29-year-old is the first England player to lose the role over misdemeanours off the field. Having vowed to “continue to give everything” for his country, he will be buoyed by Capello’s public backing.

The Italian was in Warsaw for yesterday’s Euro 2012 qualifying draw. England were drawn in Group G with Wales, ­Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro but, much to the Italian’s frustration, Terry dominated the agenda.

“[The issue] is now all over, it is finished,” said Capello as he left Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science. “It is now time to move on. But yes, John Terry is still an important player for England. He is one of our most important players.”

Rio Ferdinand, who was appointed as Terry’s vice-captain in August 2008, will take over the captaincy. Baldini has telephoned the Manchester United defender but Capello does not intend to speak to him until the squad meets before a friendly against Egypt at Wembley on 3 March. Steven Gerrard will be Ferdinand’s deputy and Frank Lampard is expected to be next in the pecking order.

Capello said: “I want to speak about this question [the captaincy], but first I want to speak with Rio and the other players. I want to do that before everything – we will speak about the new captain then. I prefer to speak with the players first.

“When I was made England manager I decided on the captain, the vice-captain and the third captain. Everyone knows this. It has been a normal week for me. I spoke with John Terry – everyone knows why – but it was a private conversation.”

A fear remains at the Football Association and among those close to Terry that further damaging allegations over the player’s conduct could emerge during the build-up to the World Cup.

Terry, who captained Chelsea in ­yesterday’s 2-0 win over Arsenal, retains the support of his club. Last night he received the backing of a former manager at Stamford Bridge, Guus Hiddink.

“I loved to work with John and even in training I’d have to say to him, ‘A little slower because we have a game tomorrow’,” said the Russia coach, who spent three months at Chelsea at the end of last season. “That means he’s very ­committed. I know his spirit. He will fight back. But they had to make a decision and I’m sure Fabio made the right one.”

The Croatia coach, Slaven Bilic, who faced Terry’s England in qualifying for Euro 2008 and this year’s World Cup, said: “John Terry is a tiger, he is a lion and [he] always will be for his team, there is no doubt about that. He is just a leader. Some players need the push of the armband to be a captain, to be an authority and gain that from the rest of the players and a leader for the rest of the team, but not John Terry.

“He has never needed that. He is a natural leader, anyway. He can still be that kind of player for England this summer in the World Cup. It will not affect him. That is the kind of man he is. He was the leader on the pitch for Chelsea right from the beginning, long before he became the captain of the club. It is the way he plays and he always will show that leadership on the pitch, whether he is the captain or not. Capello knows that as well.”

The draw for 2012 qualifying saw ­Scotland pulled out of the hat with the European champions, Spain, and the Czech Republic in Group I. Northern Ireland face the world champions, Italy, and Serbia in Group C. The Republic of Ireland join Hiddink’s Russia in Group B.

For full story go to here

• England face awkward derby against John Toshack’s Wales
• Scotland draw European champions Spain in tough group

Fabio Capello claimed his side would “not be able to play a single qualifying game relaxed” but privately the national manager might concede that England’s prospects of qualifying for the 2012 European Championship appear far from daunting.

The draw for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine cast England into one of the three groups of five teams, with Switzerland the only other side to have qualified for the summer’s World Cup finals. They avoided any energy-sapping trips to the furthest reaches of the continent and, although Wales will provide an awkward local challenge, Capello will be confident of seeing off a side ranked 76th in the world.

The Welsh have not beaten the English since triumphing 1-0 at Wrexham in 1984 and were twice seen off by Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finals. Capello sat next to the Wales manager, John Toshack, on his flight to Warsaw with their conversation centring on Real Madrid, where they have each coached twice. “But he was also telling me how Wales are a young team,” said Capello. “Their average age is 22 years old, and it will be a very interesting game, for me and England.

“They have good, young players, and derbies are never normal games. But it is a difficult group. We won’t be able to play a single qualifying game relaxed. Switzerland will be really tough. My first game [as England manager] was against them and I remember seeing the players in training and being really happy, and then seeing that they were not the same players out on the pitch when the match started, even if we won. When we play the Swiss again we will show that we have progressed since that first game.”

Capello’s wariness is founded on Montenegro’s presence in the section from the lowest pot of seeds, despite being ranked four places higher than the Welsh in Fifa’s current pecking order. The Swiss remain somewhat erratic, having won their qualifying group for the World Cup finals under Otmar Hitzfeld despite contriving to lose to Luxembourg in Zurich en route, while England have never lost to Bulgaria. Both Hitzfeld and Bulgaria’s Stanimir Stoilov insisted that Capello’s side will begin the group as “strong favourites”, the latter adding that his team were merely “­targeting second place”.

Yet Toshack will point to a clutch of promising players as cause for optimism if the personnel continue to gain experience in the Premier League. “We only have 10 players in the Premier League, and two of them are goalkeepers, and it’s very difficult to get out of these qualifying groups with six or seven players from the Championship,” he said. “So we have hope the likes of David Edwards at Wolves, Aaron Ramsey at Arsenal, Jack Collison at West Ham and Tottenham’s Gareth Bale continue to play regularly if we’re going to stand a chance of getting anywhere.

“England are a top side, we realise that. They probably start as one of the favourites to win the World Cup this summer. But my players will be excited by the prospect of this group, and the games against England in particular, and we will give it a go. My lads will relish the challenge ahead.”

The Scots have arguably been handed the most onerous task if they are to reach the finals in Poland and Ukraine, with the European champions Spain and the Czech Republic awaiting in Group I. “It is exciting,” said the new Scotland manager, Craig Levein. “You’re talking about some of the best players in the world, and drawing Spain will capture people’s imagination. They will be formidable opponents.

“Spain are an outstanding side – they won the European Championships, and that’s all you need to say. I also think the Czech Republic [whom Scotland play in a friendly on 3 March] are a fantastic team. But this is an opportunity for us to do our best and, if we can pick up points against all of the teams in the group, you just never know.”

The Republic of Ireland manager, ­Giovanni Trapattoni, has called upon his team to summon similar spirit to that which so nearly earned them a place at the summer’s World Cup as they confront a group that includes Russia and Slovakia.

“We will start with the same mentality we had three months ago against France [in the play-off],” said Trapattoni. “If we begin with the same mentality, we have the possibility to qualify. Russia will be difficult and Slovakia are a technically good team with a very tough mentality.”

Northern Ireland, meanwhile, must attempt to emerge from a section that includes the reigning world champions Italy and the World Cup qualifiers Serbia and Slovenia.

“I can see teams in that group taking points off each other,” said the national coach, Nigel Worthington.

“You want to be tested against the best and Italy are just that. Serbia are a very good team, we had Slovenia last time in the World Cup qualifiers so we know all about them. Brian Kerr is with the Faroe Islands now and knows the British game inside out so that doesn’t make it any easier.

“We’ve got to make sure we are switched on. There is plenty to battle for and we’ve got to make sure we are at our most professional and disciplined so we get the most out of the games. It will be difficult but we have a fighting spirit and will go into the campaign with great belief.”

For full story go to here

• Scottish FA say free broadcasting jeopardises Sky deal
• Move to rally English FA and other home associations

The head of the Scottish FA, Gordon Smith, scheduled talks with his England, Wales and Northern Ireland counterparts at today’s European Championship draw to co-ordinate opposition to plans to make competitive Home Nations matches available on terrestrial TV.

An independent report convened by the former Football Association executive director David Davies recommended that all qualifying games should be on free-to-air TV.

However, the SFA recently signed a new deal with Sky Sports worth £50m over four years and Smith fears losing that could have terrible consequences for the grass roots game in Scotland.

He told the Sunday Herald: “The fact someone can look at our matches and dictate the fact we should be free-to-air causes us major concerns.

“It is causing major ructions in sport and we are going to have discussions amongst our fellow British associations. We will have a chat about it in terms of how we go forward because all of us are totally affected by this and totally against it.

“The only option we have got is to try to put our case across. We need to try and show how much effect this is going to have, in terms of the grass-roots coaching and initiatives we do. All of a sudden, if it gets listed, you get a monopoly.

“Apparently they did a survey and four out of five wanted free-to-air. Well, I’ve done a survey and five out of five people also want free public transport.”

Smith has also revealed that the Scotland manager Craig Levein will have complete control over disciplining players as the Scottish Football Association bid to avoid a repeat of a previous farce involving Birmingham City’s Barry Ferguson.

The SFA chief executive admitted there had been “confusion” in the wake of the decision to hand lifetime bans to Ferguson and Allan McGregor for flicking V-signs at photographers in April last year, days after the pair indulged in an early-hours drinking session.

There were mixed messages at the time over whether the manager, George Burley, was fully behind the judgment, while the players’ suspensions were effectively lifted once Burley was sacked in November.

Smith told the News of the World: “The manager is now responsible for all disciplinary aspects of the team. Craig will decide any things like that which arise in future.

“Coming from the football side of it, I think it is something the manager should be dealing with. As soon as you take it upstairs, it leads to confusion.

For full story go to here

All the plastic ball-by-plastic ball action as Europe’s national sides learned their fate in Warsaw

Preview: Poland and Ukraine are the hosts for Euro 2012 and today, representatives of the 53 member associations who’ll be duking it out Royal Rumble style to qualify for the finals, which kick off on 8 June 2012, will gather in Warsaw to learn their fate.

Today’s draw takes place in the Polish capital’s Palace of Culture and Science and will feature 51 plastic balls (Poland and Ukraine qualify automatically as hosts, but holders Spain must qualify the hard way) being swirled, plucked and cracked open by a dizzying array of tanned and well fed men in fetching blazers.

There are 14 berths at Euro 2012 up for grabs and nine groups will be formed in today’s qualifying draw: six groups of six teams and three of five. The seedings are formed on the basis of the Uefa national team coefficient ranking system, with holders Spain automatically top seeded. Each group will contain one side from the first five pots and six of them will also feature a team from Pot 6.

The nine group winners and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up will contest two-legged play-offs to decide who gets the four remaining places. You can see who’s in which pot below, where I’ve highlighted the five home nations. England are in Pot One, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland are in Pot Three and Wales are in Pot Four.

Pot One: Spain, Germany, Netherlands, 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

The draw hasn’t started yet, but on Eurosport they’re broadcasting a pre-recorded interview with Uefa president Michel Platini. He says that today’s preview is a “bit of a preamble” and that they don’t want to “outshine the World Cup”. He says there’s been problems with the infrastructures in some of the smaller cities set to host games during 2012: hotels, airport runways, stadia etc and so on. He says he hopes that Euro 2012 will be a different type of event to those staged in countries such as Germany.

An email: “I am genuinely puzzled that Slovenia, who have qualified for the World Cup, are in Pot Four along with Macedonia, Wales and other luminaries, and below Pot Three, where none of the participants have qualified for anything for a good long time,” writes Richard Woods. “Russia, who lost out to them, are in Pot One. Do co-efficients simply take no notice of real and meaningful competitive results, or am I just grumpy this morning?”

11am: We’re about to begin. Marsha and Piotr are our hosts for today. If their forced “banter” is anything to go by, I presume they’re Poland’s equivalent of Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly. Marsha is wearing a black dsress with very puffed-up shoulders. It may well be a nod to tonight’s Super Bowl.

11.03am: Poland prime minister Donald Tusk is introduced. He says that “Poland and Ukraine are the first winners of this elimination”, possibly misreading the word ‘competition’ on the autocue.

11.05am: Only five minutes in and we’re already on to our first montage of the morning, soundtracked by Chopin and celebrating – I think – 50 years of the European Championships.

11.07am: On Sky Sports News, they’re discussing Fabio Capello’s decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy. Ray Houghton, who’s in punditing for the Uefa draw alongside Terry Venables and John Hartson, among others, doesn’t think it matters who the captain is. I’m inclined to agree with him.

11.10am: Sky cut to Bryan Swanson in the media centre at the Palace of Culture and Science, which is – unsurprisingly – full of people like Bryan Swanson.

11.12am: Piotr and Marsha introduce Poland legend Zbigniew “Ziggy” Boniek and his Ukrainian equivalent Andriy Shevchenko, who’ll be assisting with the draw. A couple of very longwinded interviews involving multiple translations ensues. Suffice to say, they are both looking forward to Euro 2012. Cue: another montage, showing what fans who travel to Poland and Ukraine can expect to see. A lot of building sites, is my guess. Perhaps I’m being too cynical.

11.17am: “Can you confirm that it has been agreed in advance that Ireland will be drawn in the same group as France?” asks Kevin Dardis. “That this will be the ‘replay’ some people were screaming for? And that Brian Kerr’s Faroe Islands will also be in the group? And Cyprus (as usual).”

11.18am: I can report that Poland and Ukraine both look very nice places – I’ve never been to either, so I’m only going on what they’re showing in the montage, which features a lot of Lovely Girls.

11.20am: Piotr and Marsha introduce the second pair of tournament ambassadors who’ll be helping with the draw: former international footballers Poland’s Andres Szarmach and Ukraine’s Oleg Blokhin. They too are very much looking forward to Euro 2012. Enough fannying around – let’s get on with the draw.

11.22am: Uefa big cheese Gianni Infantino takes to the stage and introduces a little primer for explaining the procedure: the lowest seeded teams will be coming out first.

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

Group B: Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, 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

11.28am: With the lowest ranked teams out, now we move on to the next pot. The tension here is … non-existent. Armenia get drawn out first, but go into Group B because official Uefa diktats forbid them from being in in the same group as Azerbaijan or Russia.

11.32am: Things are hotting up in Warsaw. No, really. We’re on to the third pot now.

11.35pm: We move on to the next pot, containing Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Rep of Ireland.

11.38am: The Republic of Ireland get Macedonia … again. Bah!

11.42am: So, just the Big Boys left to come out …

11.46pm: So England get Wales, which could make for a couple of interesting matches in Cardiff and Wembley.

11.48am: I’m examining those groups in a bid to come up with a Group of Death, but I’m jiggered if I can find one. Group H, with Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus and Iceland is probably the toughest, but none of them look too difficult.

11.54am: On Sky Sports News, Terry Venables is talking some seriously incomprehenisble gibberish through his grey goatee about the merits of groups with six teams over groups with five teams. He sounds very, very confused.

11.56am: Sky pundit and former Wales international John Hartson is predictably enthused by the prospect of his country playing England. He doesn’t think England will too worried at having to play Wales.

11.58am: Sky pundit and former Scotland manager Craig Brown has “got to concede that Spain are probably the favourites” to win Group I, where they are joined by the Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein. Probably the favourites? Probably?

12pm: Ray Houghton is delighted with the Republic of Ireland’s draw. He thinks Russia, Slovakia, Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra are all beatable and reckons there’s no reason why Ireland shouldn’t top the group “and that’s not something we’ve said too often in the past”.

12.02pm: Sky’s Norn Ironish correspondent Lawrie Sanchez looks glum and thinks his country’s chances of finishing in the top two of their group with Italy, Serbia, Estonia, Slovenia and the Faroe Islands are slim. However, he adds, there are some good destinations in Group C to suit any lads organising stag parties.

For full story go to here

• Scottish FA say free broadcasting jeopardises Sky deal
• Move to rally English FA and other home associations

The head of the Scottish FA, Gordon Smith has scheduled talks with his England, Wales and Northern Ireland counterparts at today’s European Championship draw to co-ordinate opposition to plans to make competitive home-nations matches available on terrestrial TV.

An independent report convened by the former Football Association executive director David Davies recommended that all qualifying games should be on free-to-air TV.

However, the SFA recently signed a new deal with Sky Sports worth £50million over four years and Smith fears losing this cash could have terrible consequences for the grassroots game in Scotland.

He told the Sunday Herald: “The fact someone can look at our matches and dictate the fact we should be free-to-air causes us major concerns.

“It is causing major ructions in sport and we are going to have discussions amongst our fellow British associations.

“We will have a chat about it in terms of how we go forward because all of us are totally affected by this and totally against it.

“The only option we have got is to try to put our case across. We need to try and show how much effect this is going to have, in terms of the grassroots coaching and initiatives we do. All of a sudden, if it gets listed, you get a monopoly.

“Apparently they did a survey and four out of five wanted free-to-air. Well, I’ve done a survey and five out of five people also want free public transport.”

Smith has also revealed that the Scotland manager Craig Levein will have complete control over disciplining his players as the Scottish Football Association bid to avoid a repeat of a previous farce involving Birmingham City’s Barry Ferguson.

The SFA chief executive Smith admitted there had been “confusion” in the wake of the decision to hand lifetime bans to Ferguson and Allan McGregor for flicking V-signs at photographers in April last year, days after the pair indulged in an early-hours drinking session.

There were mixed messages at the time over whether the manager at the time, George Burley, was fully behind the judgment, while the players’ suspensions were effectively lifted once Burley was sacked in November.

Smith told the News of the World: “The manager is now responsible for all disciplinary aspects of the team. Craig will decide any things like that which arise in future.

“Coming from the football side of it, I think it is something the manager should be dealing with. As soon as you take it upstairs, it leads to confusion.

For full story go to here

Click on the auto-refresh doo-hickey for all the latest action after 10.45am. Send your emails to barry.glendenning@guardian.co.uk

Preview: Poland and Ukraine are the hosts for Euro 2012 and today, representatives of the 53 member associations who’ll be duking it out Royal Rumble style to qualify for the finals, which kick off on 8 June, will gather in Warsaw to learn their fate.

Today’s draw takes place in the Polish capital’s Palace of Culture and Science and will feature 51 plastic balls (Poland and Ukraine qualify automatically as hosts, but holders Spain must qualify the hard way) being swirled, plucked and cracked open by a dizzying array of tanned and well fed men in fetching blazers.

There are 14 berths at Euro 2012 up for grabs and nine groups will be formed in today’s qualifying draw: six groups of six teams and three of five. The seedings are formed on the basis of the Uefa national team coefficient ranking system, with holders Spain automatically top seeded. Each group will contain one side from the first five pots and six of them will also feature a team from Pot 6.

The nine group winners and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up will contest two-legged play-offs to decide who gets the four remaining places. You can see who’s in which pot below, where I’ve highlighted the five home nations. England are in Pot One, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland are in Pot Three and Wales are in Pot Four.

Pot One: Spain, Germany, Netherlands, 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

For full story go to here

• Draw for finals in Poland and Ukraine to be staged in Warsaw
• Serbia arguably strongest team England could face

Fabio Capello heads to Warsaw for his first qualifying draw as England coach on Sunday probably half-hoping to meet Craig Levein, but definitely wanting to avoid Nemanja Vidic. Capello nearly walked straight into a reunion between England and Scotland when he succeeded Steve McClaren in the wake of the team’s failure to reach Euro 2008.

With both countries eager to generate some interest at the start of a barren summer, the oldest international fixture was briefly back on the agenda. It would have happened if Rangers and Celtic had agreed to release their players instead of forcing them to attend their own post-season tours. Since then, England’s fortunes have curved sharply upwards while Scotland have headed in the opposite direction.

The two countries have not faced each other since 1999, when a second-leg fightback from Scotland at Wembley narrowly failed to deny England a place at Euro 2000. The Scots will be drawn from Pot Three.

The Republic of Ireland – who England have not met since 1995 when a friendly in Dublin was abandoned amid violent scenes at Lansdowne Road – represent a bigger threat given how close they were to securing a spot at this summer’s World Cup. They will also be drawn from Pot Three.

For Capello, though, the biggest danger to automatic qualification for the Euro 2012 tournament – to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine – will be the team seeded second in England’s group.

The real heavyweights – Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal and France – are all avoided, but not Vidic’s Serbia, probably the best of the five World Cup contenders among the nine in Pot Two.

Northern Ireland’s recent improvement offers them a spot in Pot Three, giving England a 33% chance of drawing familiar opposition. The same is also true for Wales, in Pot Four along with Belgium, a measure of how far both countries’ fortunes have plummeted.

Capello might quite like one of those two, if only for the ease of travel. On that geographical basis, Switzerland, Scotland, Wales, Iceland and Luxembourg would be the dream draw. The polar opposite would see England undertake trips to Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and clock up plenty of air miles in the process. Substitute Romania for Turkey, Bulgaria for Israel and Belarus for Cyprus and you have the least fan-friendly group.

Indeed, Pot Five, including Albania, Georgia, Moldova and Armenia, as well as Kazakhstan – who England defeated twice on the road to South Africa – looks the least appealing, while all the home nations have a 33% chance of missing anyone from Pot Six, meaning only eight qualifying games have to be played over a 13-month period.

With 14 places up for grabs, all nine group winners, plus the best runner-up, go straight through. The remaining eight go into four play-off matches, which, much to the Republic of Ireland’s annoyance, were seeded in World Cup qualifying.

So, if England and Scotland do miss each other – and they have not met in a qualifying group as we now know them in any other major competition before – there could be plenty of space to arrange that reunion.

For full story go to here