1st place teams in each group automatically advance to Euro 2012, the 2nd place teams will go into a home-and-home playoffs. Each 2nd place team's results against the last place team in the group will be dropped in groups A-F. The 9th ranked 2nd place team is s.o.l. Group A is just nasty. The powerhouse Germans, Turkey is always good and now coached by Hiddink, time for Belgium's golden generation to make a move, and even Austria has a very solid young core. This is the last Euro with 16 teams before the "England Rule" goes into place for Euro 2016 with 24 teams. Group A Germany Turkey Belgium Austria Kazakhstan Azerbaijan Group B Russia Ireland Slovakia Macedonia Armenia Andorra Group C Italy Serbia Slovenia Northern Ireland Estonia Faroe Islands Group D France Bosnia-Herzegovina Romania Belarus Albania Luxemborg Group E Netherlands Sweden Hungary Finland Moldova San Marino Group F Croatia Greece Israel Latvia Georgia Malta Group G England Swizterland Wales Bulgaria Montenegro Group H Portugal Denmark Norway Iceland Cyprus Group I Spain Czech Rep. Scotland Lithuania Liechtenstein
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Group A Germany 1 Turkey 2 Belgium Austria Kazakhstan Azerbaijan Group B Russia 1 Ireland 2 Slovakia Macedonia Armenia Andorra Group C Italy 1 Serbia 2 Slovenia Northern Ireland Estonia Faroe Islands Group D France 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina Romania 2 Belarus Albania Luxemborg Group E Netherlands 1 Sweden 2 Hungary Finland Moldova San Marino Group F Croatia 1 Greece 2 Israel Latvia Georgia Malta Group G England 1 Swizterland Wales Bulgaria 2 Montenegro Group H Portugal 1 Denmark 2 Norway Iceland Cyprus Group I Spain 1 Czech Rep. Scotland 2 Lithuania Liechtenstein
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread michael ballack gonna need to earn his way back on the squad as he's left off the initial qualifying roster keepers: - manual neuer - rene adler - tim wiese defenders: - holger badstuber - phillip lahm - marcel jansen - heiko westermann - per mertesacker - sascha riether midfielders - mesut ozil - sami khedira - bastian schweinsteiger - toni kroos - marko marin - lukas podolski - christian trasch strikers - miroslav klose - stefan kiessling - cacau - mario gomez i expect a few more 20 year olds to get call ups and perhaps make the squad, most notably peniel mlapa a 6'4 striker of togolese decent who starts on the u19, u21 and for 1899 hoffenheim and diego contento, 20 year old left back for bayern who reasonably forsook his italian heritage and plays for the country of his birth out because of injury for the time being are: - jerome boateng (less than 1 game in the epl and see what'd i tell ya) - arne friedrich ( =[ ) - dennis aogo - piotr trochowski (hopefully for lyf ) and serder tasci was left off because of a "lack of match practice" more of the same formation and tactics from the world cup for germany, with hopefully that experience and the lack of faggot usbekistan resulting in a trophy 4-2-3-1 with GK: Manuel Neuer (adler will push him but neuer's distribution and the fact that he's this generation's keeper will keep him as the starter) LB: Marcel Jansen (westermann will challenge now, boateng and contento later) CB: Holger Badstuber (starts here for bayern now and has assumed tons of responsibility) CB: Per Mertesacker (always eager to take a carlo teve ball to the face) RB: Phillip Lahm (sascha riether backs him up) CDM: Sami Khedira (Will Ballack eventually beat him out? I can't see Ballack being admitted as a back up, dude whines too much) CDM: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Der Kapitan, Christian Trasch as back up) LW: Lukas Podolski (Now with Ozil gone, we'll see if Marin develops to the point where he can challenge) CAM: Mesut Ozil ( ) RW: Thomas Muller ( ) Striker: Miroslav Klose (Gonna be hard for Miro to keep his form for another two years, but everyone always counts him out and he always delivers. I think Kiessling may have it in him to challenge, but more likely that there is no bridge and it goes from Miro straight to a kid from the Ozil - Muller generation like Sandro Wagner, Peniel Mlapa, or Felix Kroos) And then there's Toni Kroos. He starts as CAM for Bayern and brings a more structured style of play to that position. He's so good that you need to find a place for him on the field without taking off Ozil, whose versatility and intelligence and movement off the ball (alongside Muller's even greater versatility, intelligence, and movement off the ball) is what makes this German team what it is. I wanna see if Low has the cajones to fiddle around with a: LW: Thomas Muller CAM: Toni Kroos RW: Mesut Ozil trio up front. Still allows Muller and Ozil the freedom to wonder and make runs, gives the front a bit more structure. But that would require Lukas Podolski to ride the bench, and he's a Low favorite in addition to similarly giving the squad structure with his width and powerful shot (though Kroos also has a cannon) Aside from Germany and Spain, I like Bosnia, Croatia, and Turkey to make runs. Unless they get their shit together in two years, this could be a Euro in which the emerging nations seriously force the old heads like Italy, France, and England to evolve or else.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread hate that Belgium got fucked, but I can see them advancing over Turkey
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Defour, Hazard, Vermaelen, Fellaini, Vertonghen, Witsel just a few names, Hazard is going to be incredible, I want him at Arsenal really badly
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread theyve been terrible in recent years, they were the last team in pot 3 so they were actually kinda lucky to an extend
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Didn't realize Hazard was Belgian. I thought Vermaelen was eastern European too.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Michael Bradley also plays with two very talented young German teammates, Marco Reus (21 y/o) and Patrick Hermann (19 y/o). Hermann scored two goals against Bayer Leverkusen yesterday, and Reus scored as well. Would've been nice if Gladbach could've been able to hold on to Marin last year.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread It would be so awesome if England and Italy failed to make the finals.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread if either were in germany's group instead of germany it would've been a real possibility
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Which would make it two Euros in a row for England, and the meltdown would be great to watch. Switzerland can give them a run for the group though, but I think England will end up winning it. It's interesting to see what direction Capello goes with in this campaign in regards to roster decisions.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread RVN is filling in for RVP. We'll see how that works. Shouldn't matter vs San Marino and Finland w/o RVP or Robben. Robben is the big loss. It would have been a different final with a fit Van Persie and a fit Torres. England are nothing unless Rooney starts playing better which I haven't seen. Center halves and defensive mids is a glaring weakness. Get Jagielka, Dawson, and Cahill some time but you know he is gonna go back to Terry. No clue what he is gonna do in midfield. Walcott and Gerrard will be starting and I imagine Barry will with Milner or Johnson. See another lackluster performance out of England. England roster Scott Carson (West Brom), Ben Foster (Birmingham), Joe Hart (Manchester City). Gary Cahill (Bolton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), Matthew Upson (West Ham). Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), James Milner (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa). Darren Bent (Sunderland), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Seriously Wright-Phillips??? I don't think he'd play on the US team. Lennon, Carroll, Wilshere could all use time and you go with that bum. England really need Jack Rodwell or someone else to step up because Barry is a glaring weakness anchoring midfield.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Spain except Xavi and Puyol are injured so there will be replacements. Same with Van Persie. Some others may not be out yet. I haven't seen France anywhere. Goalkeepers: Casillas, Valdes, Reina Defenders: Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Capdevila, Marchena, Pique, Puyol Midfield: Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Fabregas, Cazorla, David Silva, Jesús Navas, Iniesta Strikers: Pedro, Llorente, Villa, Torres Goalkeepers: Antonio Mirante (Parma), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo), Emiliano Viviano (Bologna) Defenders: Luca Antonelli (Parma), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Cesare Bovo (Palermo), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Lorenzo De Silvestri (Fiorentina), Daniele Gastaldello (Sampdoria), Cristiano Molinaro (VfB Stuttgart) Midfielders: Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Andrea Lazzari (Cagliari), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Andrea Pirlo (Milan) Forwards: Antonio Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Juventus), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal). Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht), Piet Velthuizen (Hercules) Defenders: Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Erik Pieters (PSV), Vurnon Anita (Ajax), John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburger SV), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord) Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Theo Janssen (Twente), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Wesley Sneijder (Inter), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax) Attackers: Eljero Elia (Hamburger SV), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Milan), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Jeremain Lens (PSV)
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread All times Eastern Thursday Israel vs. Malta - 2:15pm Friday Kazakhstan vs. Turkey - noon Belgium vs. Germany - 2:45pm Armenia vs. Ireland - 11am Andorra vs. Russia - 12:30pm Slovakia vs. Macedonia - 2:30pm Faroe Islands vs. Serbia - 1pm Encino Man vs. Italy - 2:30pm Slovenia vs. Northern Ireland - 2:45pm Romania vs. Albania - 2pm Luxemborg vs. Bosnia - 2:15pm France vs. Belarus - 3pm Moldova vs. Finland - 12:30pm Sweden vs. Hungary - 2pm San Marino vs. Netherlands - 2:45pm Latvia vs. Croatia - 2pm Greece vs. Georgia - 2:45pm Montenegro vs. Wales - 1:30pm England vs. Bulgaria - 3pm Iceland vs. Norway - 3pm Portugal vs. Cyprus - 3:45pm Lithuania vs. Scotland - 2:25pm Liechtenstein vs. Spain - 2:45pm
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Is Elia one of the better players for Hamburger? I don't follow the Budesliga too much, but I know he's a baller
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread gol tv shows like every germany game so im guessing it'll be on there
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread http://www.livesoccertv.com/competitions/international/uefa-euro-qualifying/ Lots on espn3.com and the UEFA channels on DirecTV
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread he is one of the better players, the point is he can change games and he can do that at any level basically.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Group A: Germany, Belgium Group B: Ireland, Slovakia Group C: Italy, Slovenia Group D: BIH, France Group E: Netherlands, Sweden Group F: Greece, Israel Group G: England, Wales Group H: Portugal, Denmark Group I: Spain, Scotland Eliminate Scotland and thats your qualifiers!
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread germany vs belgium not on gol tv D: on espn3 england vs bulgaria on F S C!!
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Joe Hart is set to make his first competitive start for England in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley The Manchester City goalkeeper will make his fifth senior appearance for his country in a team set to be to feature several players who started in the 4-1 defeat to Germany in the second round of the World Cup. With John Terry pulling out of the squad through injury, Everton's Phil Jagielka is favourite to take the Chelsea man's place in the heart of the defence, alongside the recalled Matthew Upson, who also played in the second round loss in Bloemfontein in June. In the absence of Frank Lampard, another withdrawal from the squad, the in-form Theo Walcott will start with captain Steven Gerrard moving into his preferred central position. England manager Fabio Capello is also expected to field Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe, all regulars during England's disappointing campaign in South Africa. With West Bromwich Albion keeper Scott Carson leaving the squad due to a family bereavement, Watford's Scott Loach takes his place. England captain Gerrard is all too aware of the pressure on the team to perform following their lacklustre showing in the summer after such a strong qualifying campaign. He said: "I think it's a similar situation to when we didn't qualify for Euro 2008 under Steve McClaren which was a low moment. It's going to take time to recover from this position." "The only way we can recover is to improve results and try to qualify smoothly out of this group. "Then we've got to try to prove to people in the tournament, if we get there, that we can do a lot better than in South Africa."
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Bosnia is gonna fuck people up this year...who is everyone's pick (of big name teams) to not make the finals. I know I'm really going out on a limb here but I think it will be France
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread biggest name not to make the finals will be turkije germany - belgium from that group
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread Maybe the Swiss, Czechs, or Russians. France will make it but struggle, a lot of low scoring games. They got the Germany game on delay after Spain Cas.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread I thought I saw Goltv but it's on ESPN deportes. My fault I'm hungover, a lot of people don't have deportes.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread I hooked up my laptop to my tv last night and watched the UM game from ESPN3, i was disappointed at the quality of the stream but at least i got to watch it on the big screen. I cant wait till Xbox comes up with the update that lets you stream ESPN3.
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread i think its already out bush posted something about it in the fsu thread i think
Re: Euro 2012 Qualifying Thread shit! i havent been on that thread in like a couple of weeks so finding that would be damn near impossible.