Don't listen to Fabio, England got the Euro 2012 dream draw - Martin Lipton's big lunchtime read

By Martin Lipton in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 11:48 08/02/10

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John Terry may have been the footballing equivalent of the spectre in the England corner in Warsaw yesterday as Fabio Capello discovered the 2012 European Championship qualifying hurdles he faces.

But while the England boss did his best to pretend he was concerned at the Group G opponents his side must overcome , the truth is that the Three Lions were handed arguably their easiest task in decades.

Had Steve McClaren been asked to overcome Switzerland, Wales, Bulgaria and Montenegro to reach Euro 2008, rather than Russia, Croatia, Israel, Estonia and Andorra, he might still be in charge of the England side.

After all, Ottmar Hitzfeld's Swiss may have won their World Cup qualifying group, but only after losing their first home match - to Luxembourg (yes, you read that right!).

Players like Tranquillo Barnetta and Alex Frei are decent, Johan Vonlantern remains a promising talent and the former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich coach has brought order and discipline into a team that stank the place out in Euro 2004.

But if the Swiss are the toughest side England have to face, then that says it all.

Look at the rest. Dimitar Berbatov, Martin Petrov and Stilian Petrov are good players but Bulgaria coach  Stanimir Stoilov has already conceded his men are playing for second place behind England - and that was not a smokescreen.

Wales have plenty of emerging players and we know that the Millennium Stadium will be a cauldron of fiery passion, promising brimstone and treacle.

Yet Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale and the rest of John Toshack's young side will be no match for England's blend of experience and quality.

As for Montenegro, a side that will be playing in European Championship qualifying for the first time, it represents a journey into the relative unknown - they are actually ranked four places above the Welsh according to FIFA, at 72nd - but little more testing than that.

The fact that England are in a five-team group - one of three with a team less than the other six - is also a blessing for Capello.

It means just eight qualifiers to be spread over the 12 available dates, giving Capello room for manoeuvre when the fixtures meeting is held in the next few weeks.

No long trips means Capello might seek to avoid playing qualifiers in June 2011, allowing room for a money-spinning tour if that is what the Italian wants.

Certainly Capello's task is far easier than that faced by some of the other top seeds.

Germany and Russia should progress relatively easily from Groups A and B - although Germany's games with Turkey will be virtually local derbies given the number of Turkish workers in Germany and the presence of Mesut Ozil in Joachim Loew's side - with Holland backing themselves in Group E.

But Italy face the emerging power of Serbia in Group C - as well as Northern Ireland and Slovenia - while France will be uncomfortable at the thought of facing Romania and the goal threat of Edin Dzeko-inspired Bosnia, while Denmark will be looking to repeat their World Cup qualifying achievements when they take on Portugal again in Group H.

As for Scotland, Craig Levein's face and struggling efforts to remain upbeat after pulling Spain and the Czech Republic in Group H said it all. The Tartan Army should enjoy the trips as they will not need to save up for a long hot summer in Eastern Europe in two years' time.

The qualifying rules are complex. With co-hosts Ukraine and Poland already qualified, the nine group winners and the best second-placed team - decided by games against the first, third and fourth sides in their sections - will go through automatically.

Then the other eight runners-up will meet in four two-legged play-off deciders in November 2011.

Not that Capello will be thinking about the need for a nerve-shredding play-off, especially after the way his side romped through to South Africa with barely a blink, let alone a hiccough.

Arguably the biggest problem facing England will come when they qualify, although it is the fans who will suffer.

The distances between the cities staging the games are vast. Poznan in the west of Poland is 320km from Warsaw, while Gdansk in the north is 350km from the capital.

Ukraine is even more vast. Kiev is a staggering 800km - 16 hours by train - from Warsaw but the distance from Lviv in the west to Donetsk in the south east is unbelievable - 1340 km, as far as from London to Munich.

With the Polish rail network already reportedly on the brink of collapse, and infrastructure development in Ukraine grinding to a halt, the problems have already been flagged up.

That, though, is for June 2012. It will, however, become a major issue.

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