Euro 2012 seedings allow for many Groups of Death and one Group of Debt

UEFA today revealed the four seeding groups for next summer’s European Championships.

Pot 1: Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Netherlands

Pot 2: England, Germany, Italy, Russia,

Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

A cursory glance at the four pots instantly suggests that next year’s tournament will be extremely tough for all and on closer examination it becomes clear that this is the toughest competition ever held. Of the 16 qualifiers, 12 are in the top 15 of FIFA’s world rankings and the competition is, for the first time, also hosting all the previous winners. In addition the only runners-up missing are Belgium (1980) and the now defunct Yugoslavia (1960 and 1968).

As with every tournament managers, players and fans alike will be anxiously hoping to avoid being drawn into the inevitable ‘Group of Death’. The presence of the two lowest ranked teams, hosts Poland and Ukraine, in Pot 1 has meant that there are a number of potential groupings that will leave even the tournament favourites with a feeling of trepidation come the draw in Kyiv on December 2^nd. Of all the options that are either scary or exciting, depending on where you are viewing from, surely the No. 1 Group of Death would be:

Spain, Germany, Portugal and France

On a lighter note the seeding has placed the four countries of with Europe’s most struggling economies in different pots meaning the combination of;

Spain, Italy, Greece and the Republic of Ireland would be instantly christened the Group of Debt.

 

Source: DSG

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