Euro 2012

[andrew_g]

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.

[RogueTrader]

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.

By 2012 Greece will have one of the better teams in Europe.

The squad that goes to the world cup will contain players who will be at there peak in 2012 - Sifakis, Tzorvas, Papastathopoulos, Vyntra, Pliatsikas, Ninis, Koutsianikoulis, Mitroglou, Spyropoulos, Torosidis are all still young.

[plato-ny]

We havent even played WC 2010 so hold your horses!! Also, nobody knows if, years from now, we will be better, worse or the same, if Otto will still be the coach (at age 74!!), or which new players will be injected into the lineup. So, this thread is really unecessary.

[Guest geok]

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.

Here's my preference:

From Pot 1, one of: Italy, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia.

From Pot 3, one of: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria.

From Pot 4, one of: Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, FYROM, Cyprus.

From Pot 5, one of: Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Liectnestein.

It would be better if we are in a group with 5 teams really.

It is reasonable to expect that from now on we will always be playing at a knockout fixture, but if this is seeded then we will have the upper hand as well. We now have the hang of knockout fixtures.

[Genome]

Hm k not really getting why we'd share preferences on teams that will look completely different by then :D, as goes for our own team.

[drakos13]

How on earth are we screwed????

Seriously, Greece has/was not going to be a pot 1 team forever. Pot 2 is still very good.

Were for sure capable of placing higher than a Croatia, France, Russia, and every team in pot 3-5 is beatable, only "worries" are Bosnia and Ireland.

[thrylos]

By 2012 Greece will have one of the better teams in Europe.

The squad that goes to the world cup will contain players who will be at there peak in 2012 - Sifakis, Tzorvas, Papastathopoulos, Vyntra, Pliatsikas, Ninis, Koutsianikoulis, Mitroglou, Spyropoulos, Torosidis are all still young.

you guys are forgetting Avraam

[plato-ny]

(from uefa.com)

EURO 2012 qualifying draw approaches

Holders Spain will be among nine top seeds in the UEFA EURO 2012™ qualifying draw at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw on 7 February (12.00CET).

Draw procedure

Nine groups will be formed in the qualifying draw including six sections of six sides and three of five, as teams chase 14 finals places alongside co-hosts Poland and Ukraine. The seeding pots are formed on the basis of the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system, finalised after the completion of FIFA World Cup qualifying, with the reigning European champions automatically top seeded. All groups will contain one nation from the first five pots and six sections will also include a team from Pot 6.

Qualifying competition

Sides in each group will play one another on a home-and-away basis, with qualifiers scheduled according to the international match calendar between September 2010 and October 2011. The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their group qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up contest play-off matches in November 2011.

Seeding pots

Pot 1: Spain (holders), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia

Pot 2: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania

Pot 3: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Pot 4: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus

Pot 5: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein

Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino

Ranking to be used for

the UEFA EURO 2012

Qualifying Draw National Team Coefficients Overview

WC 2006: 20% (Q/F) EURO 2008: 40% (Q/F) WC 2010: 40% (Q/–)

Pot 1: Spain 39'964, Germany 38'294, Netherlands 37'821, Italy 35'838, England 34'819, Croatia 33'677, Portugal 33'226

France 32'551, Russia 32'477

Pot 2:Greece 31'268, Czech Republic 30'871, Sweden 30'695, Switzerland 30'395, Serbia 29'811, Turkey 29'447

Denmark 29'222, Slovakia 28'228, Romania 28'145

Pot 3: Ukraine 28'133, Israel 28'052, Bulgaria 27'198, Finland 26'827, Poland 26'620, Norway 26'210,

Republic of Ireland 25'971, Scotland 25'646, Northern Ireland 24'518, Austria 24'381, Bosnia-Herzegovina 24'365

Pot 4: Slovenia 24'221, Latvia 23'303, Hungary 23'048, Lithuania 22'071, Belarus 21'515, Belgium 21'426, Wales 21'274

F.Y.R. Macedonia 19'409, Cyprus 18'791

Pot 5: Montenegro 18'751, Albania 18'319, Estonia 17'792, Georgia 15'819, Moldova 15'734, Iceland 15'404, Armenia 15'164,

Kazakhstan 14'730, Liechtenstein 13'581

Pot 6: Azerbaijan 13'500, Luxembourg 11'872, Malta 11'517, Faroe Islands 10'620, Andorra 9'197, San Marino 7'783

[Euro2004]

FANTASTIC DRAW FOR GREECE! :tup: Not so great for Cyprus.

Croatia

HELLAS

Israel

Latvia

Georgia (Ketsbaia will want to win)

Malta

&

Portugal

Denmark

Norway

CYPRUS

Iceland

Greece will want to win the group and Cyprus will be aiming for third. Anything less than 2nd would be a disaster for Greece

[Guest geok]

FANTASTIC DRAW FOR GREECE! :tup: Not so great for Cyprus.

Croatia

HELLAS

Israel

Latvia

Georgia (Ketsbaia will want to win)

Malta

&

Portugal

Denmark

Norway

CYPRUS

Iceland

Greece will want to win the group and Cyprus will be aiming for third. Anything less than 2nd would be a disaster for Greece

It could not be a better draw really. The comment for this forum should change, we are not screwed at all! Rehhagel's lucky star worked again !!! I would not be surprised if he leads us onto Euro 2012!

It appears to be the easiest group!

We have to remember though that from the easiest possible group for qualification in WC2010 we came...second, so it is not straightforward; we have to perform on the pitch. The fact that we don't have one of the strongest group1 teams to pit against (probably the weakest) is rather encouraging and the remaining opponents are handable as we have played against them in the last 4 years.

The future looks bright for our NT and we can be on our way to returning to Pot 1 seeding in the not very distant future actually.

The rest on the pitch.

:gr:

[andrew_g]

I think we can qualify.

a

[Genome]

Great draw although we shouldn't underestimate the task either.

Having said that qualification is definitely possible!

I'm also changing the topic title :D ...

[The2ndMouse]

OK ... Otto made his own luck by beating Spain and Portugal in the Preliminaries and getting the Euro, as a result we ARE one of the 2 highly seeded teams in the drwas ever since, thus avoiding at least 1 more classical tough team of Europe.

Nevertheless, this man (Otto) is the luckiest coach we ever had LOL

The man is always getting the perfect groups!

But of course we will make all of it difficult! ;)

[Clover22]

Okay...the next Euro was just practically given to us...no excuses with this draw! I think some of you are overlooking the fact that Otto will most likely not be w/ us when the games start.

[thrylos]

Yes Greece is getting nice draws, but that has also to do with putting themsleves to get a good draw.

The better they do in tournaments, the more consistent they are, the more they will avoid the super powers in qualifying. Simple as that.

To say Otto has been lucky is only half true.

To say that he has put himself in position to succeed is the other half.

I only hope that when he steps down that the new guy has the player's respect b/c we all know that the ego of the Greek player is greater than his football skill

[Akritis_1944]

Wow that's a sweet draw. Not to disrespect any of the teams we've drawn, but if we don't finish top with a wide gap we would have underachieved!

We got a decent draw, now let the players deliver come qualifying.

[BlueStriker]

How the &*(^%! do we always get these draws! I was thinking there is no way we are gonna be lucky again, we have to be finally screwed. This is the best draw we can possibly get. Other than Croatia, we need to easily smash the rest of the competition. If we don't, then we don't deserve to qualify.

Yes, there still are many questions to be answered. Who will be our coach? How well will the next generation play as a team? Hopefully this draw will also encourage any good prospects for the new Greek NT coach to take on the job (if Otto retires of course).

[cyberfish]

Yeah, even if Otto quits we should retain him just to represent us on the draws. That's a fantastic draw and save for Croatia, we should be able to beat everyone home and away.

[Clover22]

To branch out a little here, we can't just get a reputable coach; he also has to be willing to put the time in to getting to know the players, watching the videos, figuring out who works best with who, etc. That takes time. Which means they need to move quickly and make some decisions by this spring. After the WC is not enough time. Unless they get someone who is familiar with the players and the league, but even then you need time to prepare.

[PAO_OR_DEATH]

mmm we better watch out for Manny "the maniac" muskat he is a terribly hot headed defender for the maltese international team woh plays for my local A-league club , a few weeks ago he elbowed somone in the face for a straight red and was lucky not to be given a red last week for a dangerous late all studs showing slide tackle, just the yellow.

[andrew_g]

I think that as strange as it sounds, we need Rehhagel to stay on. Our first qualifier is going to be only a few months after the world cup, who thinks that a coach can step in and gel with the team in such a short time. Look, Otto lost his first game 5-1 to lowly Finland, then after that miracle in Old Trafford where Dick Jol (one of the worst refs to officiate a qualifier) fell in love with David Beckham and awarded him one dubious free kick after another, we lost back to back qualifiers to Spain and the Ukraine. So it's not as if Otto came as a ready made coach.

I think they are going to follow the Argentine model and give the job to a great former player with no clue about how to coach, perhaps Zagorakis. We need a guy like Guus Hiddink but that won't happen. A

[Clover22]

I think that as strange as it sounds, we need Rehhagel to stay on. Our first qualifier is going to be only a few months after the world cup, who thinks that a coach can step in and gel with the team in such a short time. Look, Otto lost his first game 5-1 to lowly Finland, then after that miracle in Old Trafford where Dick Jol (one of the worst refs to officiate a qualifier) fell in love with David Beckham and awarded him one dubious free kick after another, we lost back to back qualifiers to Spain and the Ukraine. So it's not as if Otto came as a ready made coach.

I think they are going to follow the Argentine model and give the job to a great former player with no clue about how to coach, perhaps Zagorakis. We need a guy like Guus Hiddink but that won't happen. A

Why not? They were talking to him about taking over a couple of years ago. I think there are some well known coaches who would be more than interested.

[BlueStriker]

I think we can get someone like the Golden Guus. Look at the other teams he took over at the International level, no one extra special, but teams that showed promise to display a good performance in their tournaments. I think we easily fit into that category. It's just a matter of us going after him and giving him a fat paycheck.

Other than Guus, we can get many great coaches. Qualifying for the last 3 of 4 major tournaments is no joke. They only have to look at what Otto was able to do during his run, and realize we are a team of going far. I think a lot of these coaches like to take on this challenge. Use a good team with potential, but not necessarily a superpower team, and turn them into contenders for a trophy.

As for not having much time after the WC to sufficiently prepare for the first couple of Euro qualifiers, that's true, although much can still be done in that time frame. However, there is always a qualification or tournament looming around the corner. Qualifiers happen after tournaments, and tournaments happen after qualifiers. We can't just wait for Greece to not qualify for a major tournament, and then say since we don't have any important matches coming up, this is the right time to change coaches. Thanks Otto, but we need to eventually change, and I don't think Otto can run this team forever, he's getting up there in age, and who knows if he himself even wants to continue coaching after this WC.

[Clover22]

I think we can get someone like the Golden Guus. Look at the other teams he took over at the International level, no one extra special, but teams that showed promise to display a good performance in their tournaments. I think we easily fit into that category. It's just a matter of us going after him and giving him a fat paycheck.

Other than Guus, we can get many great coaches. Qualifying for the last 3 of 4 major tournaments is no joke. They only have to look at what Otto was able to do during his run, and realize we are a team of going far. I think a lot of these coaches like to take on this challenge. Use a good team with potential, but not necessarily a superpower team, and turn them into contenders for a trophy.

As for not having much time after the WC to sufficiently prepare for the first couple of Euro qualifiers, that's true, although much can still be done in that time frame. However, there is always a qualification or tournament looming around the corner. Qualifiers happen after tournaments, and tournaments happen after qualifiers. We can't just wait for Greece to not qualify for a major tournament, and then say since we don't have any important matches coming up, this is the right time to change coaches. Thanks Otto, but we need to eventually change, and I don't think Otto can run this team forever, he's getting up there in age, and who knows if he himself even wants to continue coaching after this WC.

Good post ;)

[Genome]

I think we can get someone like the Golden Guus.

Concerning Guus Hiddink: the Turkish NT got him.

He will be officially announced on monday.

Source and full article.