The Euro 2012 draw is complete



December 29th, 2011
Kiev, Ukraine – The Euro 2012 draw  is complete at the Palace of Sports:
In Group A:
It’s Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic and Russia.
In Group B:
It’s the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and Denmark.
In Group C:
It’s Spain, Italy, Ireland and Croatia.
In Group D:
It’s England, Ukraine, France and Sweden.
The reigning world and European champions, Spain, remain well set to become the first side to successfully defend the Henri Delaunay Cup after cantering through qualifying. The Roja negotiated their group with a perfect record, an achievement matched on this occasion by the UEFA EURO 2008 runners-up, Germany, and only three times previously en route to a UEFA European Football Championship final tournament.
The group stage ended on 11 October, with Russian, France, Denmark and Greece leaving it until the final day to join Spain, Germany, England, Italy and the Netherlands as section winners. Sweden, meanwhile, confirmed their place in a fourth successive EURO as best runners-up with a thrilling 3-2 against the Dutch. Just over a month later on 15 November, Croatia, Czech Republic, Republlic of Ireland and Portugal booked the final four finalround berths as play-off winners.
The Netherlands, defeated by Spain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, may not have been the most emphatic qualifiers, but they were perhaps the most entertaining. Bert van Marwijk's side were top scorers with 37 goals, while Klaas-Jan Huntelaar took the individual accolade 12 of his own.
There was drama aplenty as well, with places to play for in all but one group heading into the final day of qualifying. Denmark beat Portugal 2-1 to book their place as Group H winners at the expense of the 2004 runners-up, while in Paris, Samir Nasri's late penalty earned France a 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina which ensured they finished top of Group D and consigned their visitors to the play-offs.
Portugal ended Bosnia and Herzegovina's hopes of a first appearance with a 6-2 aggregate triumph in the play-offs, all the goals coming the second leg. The Republic of Ireland won 4-0 in Estonia and advanced 5-1 on aggregate, and Croatia also impressed, winning 3-0 away to Turkey before drawing the return 0-0. The Czech Republic saw off Montenegro 3-0 on aggregate, winning 2-0 at home and 1-0 away.
The 16 teams that will participate in the final round of the UEFA European Football Championship 2010-12 will be divided into four groups of teams each (Groups A to D). Four seeding pots will be created for the purpose of the draw, with the host associations Poland and Ukraine being top seeds: Poland as A1, Ukraine as D1. The reining champions Spain will be placed in Pot 1, together with the Netherlands, the team with the highest national team coefficient.
The remaining sides are classified on the basis of their coefficiant ranking and divided into four pots - one with two teams, including Spain, and three with four. Balls pulled from these pots will determine each team's group. A further draw will decide thir position in those groups to establish the sequence of matches.

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