Scotland face Spain in Euro group
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/8502909.stm Version 0 of 1. Scotland have been drawn in the same Euro 2012 qualifying group as holders Spain. They will also face the Czech Republic, Liechtenstein and Lithuania. There are 14 places available alongside the co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, for the tournament which runs from 8 June to 1 July. Scotland's group presents a daunting first challenge for new manager Craig Levein, who said before the draw that he would love to face England. "It's exciting, especially with Spain coming out of the hat," said Levein. "I am pretty sure that the Scotland fans will be looking forward to Spain coming to Hampden and to a little holiday over there. "It is no secret that Spain should be favourites to win the group if they play as they can but it might be easier in a five-team group to get that second place. "We need to get some momentum between now and then, if we can do that then we are more than capable of causing problems for everyone in the group. We are in with a fighting chance." The road to the finals kicks off in September and runs through to October 2011. The nine group winners automatically qualify for the tournament, together with the runner-up with the best overall record. The eight other runners-up will then face play-offs over two legs in November 2011. Poland and Ukraine will be only the third co-hosts of the European Championship, following in the footsteps of Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000 and Austria and Switzerland in 2008. <hr/> Euro 2012 qualifying draw: GROUP A: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Germany GROUP B: Andorra, Armenia, Macedonia, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Russia GROUP C: Faroes, Estonia, Slovenia, NORTHERN IRELAND, Serbia, Italy GROUP D: Luxembourg, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Romania, France GROUP E: San Marino, Moldova, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands GROUP F: Malta, Georgia, Latvia, Israel, Greece, Croatia GROUP G: Montenegro,WALES, Bulgaria, Switzerland, ENGLAND GROUP H: Iceland, Cyprus, Norway, Denmark, Portugal GROUP I: Liechtenstein, Lithuania, SCOTLAND, Czech Republic, Spain |