Spain happy to avoid Germany in Euro 2012 title quest

By Barry Whelan Dec 2, 2011, 20:01 GMT

Kiev (dpa - Holders Spain will face Italy but have avoided a potentially tough group and highly-fancied Germany at Euro 2012 as they seek an unprecedented third title following their Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup triumphs.

Germany, considered one of the favourites, were meanwhile handed a difficult task in the draw Friday against the Netherlands, Portugal and neighbours Denmark in what looks the hardest of the four groups.

England and France come up against each other in a group featuring co-hosts Ukraine and Sweden, while Poland open the tournament against 2004 winners Greece in what appears to be the lightest of the groups, also featuring Russia and the Czech Republic.

Group B is arguably the most difficult, with the record three-times champions Germany facing 1988 winners Netherlands, 1992 champs Denmark and Portugal, who were in the 2004 final.

'I believe it is the strongest, the most interesting and most balanced group. The Dutch and Portuguese have unbelievable individual players,' Germany coach Joachim Loew said. 'We can look forward to some interesting duels.'

Title holders Spain and Italy appear to be the top teams in Group C, into which Ireland and Croatia were also drawn at a ceremony in Kiev's Palace of Arts attended by the 16 team coaches.

Spain will meet Italy - who they beat on penalties in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals - in their opening match in Gdansk on June 10, but Spain manager Vicente del Bosque was pleased to have avoided Germany.

'It will be difficult. There are 16 strong sides in the competition, but we wanted to avoid Germany and we wanted to play in Poland,' Del Bosque said.

If Spain and Germany win their groups it means the Euro 2008 finalists could only meet again in the July 1 final in Kiev if they go that far.

'That is something that would be great and I hope it does happen - it would be a fantastic final,' Del Bosque told Cuatro television.

For Ireland's coach Giovanne Trapattoni it means a meeting with the country of his birth against Italy in the last game in the group - a match that also comes 18 years to the day after the Irish beat Italy 1-0 at the 1994 World Cup.

Co-hosts Ukraine were given a difficult draw against Sweden, France and England in Group D.

Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin said: 'It is not a group of death even though England and France are great football nations, but (co-hosts) Poland have it easier.'

Poland start the tournament on June 8 against Greece in Warsaw in Group A, while Russia and Greece are in the same group for the third time in a row.

Germany, who have had kind draws in past tournaments, ran out of luck when they landed old foes the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal, but Loew remained confident even though it means trips to Ukraine for matches in Kharkiv amd Lviv from the squad's planned base near Gdansk in Poland.

'We are looking forward to playing this group. It is good that we start like this in this tournament.'

The Germans play Portugal first on June 9, with Cristiano Ronaldo and company aiming to avenge a 3-2 quarter-final loss from four years ago. The date with the Dutch follows on June 13 and Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk said the good thing was that everyone in his camp could now get down to business.

'I saw all coaches from our groups, no one was happy. We all have a lot of respect for one another. The tough group has an advantage that we are all motivated from now on,' said Van Marwijk.

Denmark coach Morten Olsen said his side were the outsiders but would be able to play freely and could cause a surprise.

'It is a group where teams can take points off each other,' he said. 'I don't think anyone of us was satisfied immediately after the draw the draw. It is a very difficult group, a dynamite group we say in Denmark.'

England, back at Euro after failing to qualify for 2008, will like their chances in quite an evenly balanced Group D with the duel against the 1984 and 2000 winners France the opener on June 11.

'The best group was Group A, but we are happy with Group D. It's a tough group but it's better than Group B,' said England manager Fabio Capello.

'More difficult will be the first game against France because of the pressure and the importance of the result.'

England have not beaten France in five meetings, a side they also met in the first game at Euro 2004, where they lost 2-1 in Lisbon.

Next up is Sweden who they beat for the first time in 43 years in a recent friendly at Wembley, before they meet Ukraine - a team they also play in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers - in Donetsk.