VARIOUS: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Spain, Netherlands, Ukraine and Poland in Euro 2012 Pot 1

Record ID: 480146

  • Title: VARIOUS: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Spain, Netherlands, Ukraine and Poland in Euro 2012 Pot 1
  • Date: 30th November 2011
  • Summary: FILE - KATWIJK AAN ZEE, THE NETHERLANDS (SEPTEMBER 1, 2011) (REUTERS) VAN MARWIJK (FACING CAMERA), ARSENAL STRIKER ROBIN VAN PERSIE (RIGHT), SNEIJDER (BOTTOM LEFT) AND LIVERPOOL FORWARD DIRK KUYT (BLOND HAIR) HAVING A LAUGH ON THE PITCH SNEIJDER TRAINING FILE - MUNICH, GERMANY (AUGUST 16, 2011) (REUTERS) NETHERLANDS WINGER ARJEN ROBBEN TRAINING WITH BAYERN MUNICH KI
  • Embargoed: 15th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain, Poland, Netherlands, Ukraine, Finland
  • City:
  • Country: Various
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAZHIL28UY1HXOP6MLKMUF1JK9
  • Story Text: Defending European and world champions Spain, Netherlands and co-hosts Ukraine and Poland make up the top-seeded Pot 1 for the Euro 2012 soccer finals draw in Kiev on Friday (December 2).
    Spain head to the 2012 finals as reigning world and European champions and start as favourites to win a third successive title.
    Their team, based mainly on players from Champions League holders Barcelona and Real Madrid, boasts a huge array of talent including Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, David Silva and David Villa and they stand an excellent chance of retaining the title.
    Runners-up in last year's World Cup, the Netherlands are ranked among the favourites to win the Euros along with world champions Spain and Germany.
    Under coach Bert Van Marwijk, the Dutch have lost only two of their last 25 competitive matches -- the World Cup final against Spain in Johannesburg and their last Euro qualifier against Sweden.
    The Dutch boast the likes of Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben. Strong in attack but sometimes lacking in defence, Netherlands are leading contenders for the crown.
    As co-hosts and debutants, Ukraine will take part in the finals on a wave of popular support which could well inspire them to do better than their world ranking would suggest.
    Ukraine will rely on Andrei Shevchenko, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Andrei Yarmolenko while the experience gained by Shakhtar Donetsk's Ukrainian players in the Champions League means they will not be over-awed on the big stage.
    Rated among the 50-1 and up outsiders, Poland, like co-hosts Ukraine, are likely to be lifted by a wave of public support, but whether they can make it past the opening stage is open to some doubt.
    However, they do have some fine players who could help them achieve just that.
    Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is one of the most promising young keepers in Europe and striker Robert Lewandowski, who played against him when Arsenal faced Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League this month, has been scoring regularly for Poland in their friendlies.

    Factbox on Euro 2012 finalists and reigning champions Spain ahead of the draw for the finals in Kiev on Dec.2.
    Qualified: As winners of Group I

    P W D L F A Pts
    Spain 8 8 0 0 26 6 24
    Czech Republic 8 4 1 3 12 8 13
    Scotland 8 3 2 3 9 10 11
    Lithuania 8 1 2 5 4 13 5
    Liechtenstein 8 1 1 6 3 17 4

    Results:
    2010
    Sept 3 Liechtenstein A Won 4-0 (Torres 2, Villa Silva)
    Oct 8 Lithuania H Won 3-1 (Llorente 2, Silva)
    Oct 12 Scotland A Won 3-2 (Villa pen, Iniesta, Llorente)

    2011
    March 25 Czech Republic H Won 2-1 (Villa 2 (1pen)
    March 29 Lithuania A Won 3-1 (Xavi, Kijanskas og, Mata)
    Sept 6 Liechtenstein H Won 6-0 (Negredo 2, Villa 2 Xavi, Ramos)

    Oct 7 Czech Republic A Won 2-0 (Mata, Alonso)
    Oct 11 Scotland H Won 3-1 (Silva 2, Villa)
    Leading scorer in qualifiers: David Villa (7 goals)

    Previous European Championship record:
    Appearances: 8 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
    European Championship Honours: Winners: 1964, 2008
    Runners-up: 1984
    FIFA world ranking (Nov 2011): 1st
    Draw for 2012: Allocated in Pot 1 with Netherlands, Ukraine and Poland
    Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Ukraine, Poland
    Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
    Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden
    Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Ireland
    Coach: Vicente del Bosque
    Captain: Iker Casillas


    Factbox on Euro 2012 finalists Netherlands ahead of the draw for the finals in Kiev on Dec. 2:
    Qualified: As winners of Group E

    P W D L F A Pts
    Netherlands 10 9 0 1 37 8 27
    Sweden 10 8 0 2 31 11 24
    Hungary 10 6 1 3 22 14 19
    Finland 10 3 1 6 16 16 10
    Moldova 10 3 0 7 12 16 9
    San Marino 10 0 0 10 0 53 0

    Results:
    2010
    Sept 3 San Marino A Won 5-0 (Huntelaar 3, Kuyt, Van Nistelrooy)
    Sept 7 Finland H Won 2-1 (Huntelaar 2)
    Oct 8 Moldova A Won 1-0 (Huntelaar)
    Oct 12 Sweden H Won 4-1 (Huntelaar 2, Afellay 2)

    2011
    March 25 Hungary A Won 4-0 (Van der Vaart, Afellay, Kuyt, Van Persie)
    March 28 Hungary H Won 5-3 (Van Persie, Sneijder, Van Nistelrooy, Kuyt 2)
    Sept 2San Marino H Won 11-0 (Van Persie 4, Sneijder 2, Heitinga, Kuyt, Huntelaar 2, Wijnaldum)
    Sept 6 Finland A Won 2-0 (Strootman, Luuk de Jong)
    Oct 7 Moldova H Won 1-0 (Huntelaar)
    Oct 11 Sweden A Lost 2-3 Huntelaar, Kuyt)
    Leading scorer in qualifiers: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (12 goals)
    Previous European Championship record:
    Appearances: 8 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
    European Championship Honours: Winners: 1988
    FIFA world ranking (Nov 2011): 2nd
    Coach: Bert van Marwijk
    Captain: Mark van Bommel

    Factbox on Euro 2012 finalists Ukraine ahead of the draw for the finals in Kiev on Dec. 2:
    Results Of friendly matches since September 2010

    2010
    Sept 4 Poland A Drew 1-1 (Seleznyov)
    Sept 7 Chile H Won 2-1 (Rakitskiy, Alijev)
    Oct 8 Canada H Drew 2-2 (Milevskiy, Tymoshchuk)
    Oct 11 Brazil N Lost 0-2
    Nov 17 Switzerland A Drew 2-2 (Alijev, Konoplyanka)

    2011
    Feb 8 Romania A Drew 2-2 (Rakitskiy, Milevskiy)
    Feb 9 Sweden A Drew 1-1 (Devic pen)
    March 29 Italy H Lost 0-2
    June 1 Uzbekistan H Won 2-0 (Tymoshchuk, Voronin)
    June 6 France H Lost 1-4 (Tymoshchuk)
    Aug 10 Sweden H Lost 0-1
    Sept 2 Uruguay H Lost 2-3 (Yarmolenko, Konoplyanka)
    Sept 6 Czech Rep. A Lost 0-4
    Oct.7 Bulgaria H Won 3-0 (Selin, Shevchenko, Yarmolenko)
    Oct. 11 Estonia A Won 2-0 (Husyev, Alijev)
    Nov. 11 Germany H Drew 3-3 (Yarmolenko, Konoplyanka, Nazarenko)
    Nov. 15 Austria H Won 2-1 (Milevskiy, Devic)

    Previous European Championship record: no appearances
    FIFA World ranking (Nov 2011): 55th
    Coach: Oleg Blokhin
    Captain: Andriy Shevchenko
    Factbox on Euro 2012 finalists Poland ahead of the draw for the finals in Kiev on Dec. 2:
    Results of friendly matches since September 2010:

    2010
    Sept 4 Ukraine H Drew 1-1 (Jelen)
    Sept 7 Australia H Lost 1-2 (Lewandowski)
    Oct 9 United States A Drew 2-2 (Matuszcyk, Blaszczykowski)
    Oct 12 Ecuador N Drew 2-2 (Smolarek, Obraniak)
    Nov 17 Ivory Coast H Won 3-1 (Lewandowski 2, Obraniak)
    Dec 10 BosniaN Drew 2-2 (Brozek 2)

    2011

    Feb 6 Moldova N Won 1-0 (Plzga)
    Feb 9 Norway N Won 1-0 (Lewandowski)
    March 25 Lithuania A Lost 0-2
    March 29 Greece A Drew 0-0
    June 5 Argentina H Won 2-1 (Mierzejewski, Brozek)
    June 9 FranceH Lost 0-1
    Aug 10 Georgia H Won 1-0 (Blaszczykowski)
    Sept 2 MexicoH Drew 1-1 (Brozek)
    Sept 6 Germany H Drew 2-2 (Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski)
    Oct 11 Belarus N Won 2-0 (Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski)
    Nov 11 Italy H Lost 0-2
    Nov 15 Hungary H Won 2-1 (Brozek, Vanczak og)

    Previous European Championship record:
    Appearances (1) 2008
    FIFA World Ranking (Nov 2011): 66th
    Coach: Franciszek Smuda
    Captain: Jakub Blaszczykowski
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register