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Post by Robin on Jan 27, 2006 12:43:43 GMT 1
Good news for England, bad news for Scotland!!
Group A
Portugal
Poland
Serbia & Mont
Belgium
Finland
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan
Group B
France
Italy
Ukraine
SCOTLAND
Lithuania
Georgia
Faroe Islands
Group C
Greece
Turkey
Norway
Bosnia
Hungary
Moldova
Malta
Group D
Czech Republic
Germany
Slovakia
REP OF IRELAND
WALES
Cyprus
San Marino
Group E
ENGLAND
Croatia
Russia
Israel
Estonia
Macedonia
Andorra
Group F
Sweden
Spain
Denmark
Latvia
Iceland
NORTHERN IRELAND
Liechtenstein
Group G
Holland
Romania
Bulgaria
Slovenia
Albania
Belarus
Luxembourg
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jan 27, 2006 12:48:11 GMT 1
I'll take our group  Ireland and Wales in the same group tho, i reckon thats bad news for both of them. |
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Jan 27, 2006 12:50:24 GMT 1
great group for England, israel will be tricky but the rest are winable
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frag
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Post by frag on Jan 27, 2006 13:15:53 GMT 1
To be honest, I'd completely forgotten this was around the corner...  Italy and France!  |
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Post by Robin on Jan 27, 2006 13:18:04 GMT 1
I think Croatia will be England's toughest opponent!
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frag
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Post by frag on Jan 27, 2006 13:21:58 GMT 1
I think UEFA have dropped the ball here, actually...
50 teams; 7 groups in total (an eight and 6 sevens), 14 to qualify.
Obviously, top 2 from each group will qualify, with no need for play-offs... but each team plays on at least 12 out of 14 matchdays.
A better way to organise it would be to have the 50 divided into groups of 6 and 5... 9 groups in total. 5 groups of 6 and 4 groups of 5.
10 matchdays for the group stage; the 9 group winners and best runners-up progress.
The remaining 8 runners-up play in two-leg play-offs, with the winners going through.
Total matchdays: only 12, and most teams will only need to play 10 matches, instead of 12.
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frag
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Post by frag on Jan 27, 2006 13:22:41 GMT 1
I think Croatia will be England's toughest opponent! I agree, actually, but I doubt we'll win away to Israel. And I bet that there are qualifying matches going into mid-June 2007... |
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Thor
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Post by Thor on Jan 27, 2006 13:24:34 GMT 1
Group A PortugalPoland Serbia & MontBelgium Finland Armenia Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Quite open really, everyone down to Finland has a chance i'd say. Although only Serbia and Poland could finish above Portugal  Group B France ItalyUkraineSCOTLAND Lithuania Georgia Faroe Islands I'd love to see France go out and I think Ukraine are too strong at the moment not to qualify Group C Greece TurkeyNorwayBosnia Hungary Moldova Malta Probably the weakest group due to the top seeds being poor. I'd like to see Bosnia sneak in here but i'll go for Turkey 1st with Norway scraping 2nd Group D Czech RepublicGermany Slovakia REP OF IRELANDWALES Cyprus San Marino I think Ireland could cause a shock here and put the Germans out. I certainly expect the Czech Rep to top the group. I'm hoping Wales can win a group-within-a-group battle and end higher than Slovakia Group E ENGLANDCroatiaRussia Israel Estonia Macedonia Andorra England got off lightly here, Russia were rubbish last time and Israel benefitted from mediocrity. England and Croatia should walk it Group F SwedenSpain DenmarkLatvia Iceland NORTHERN IRELAND Liechtenstein Again very hard to predict. Spain won't fancy having 4 trips to cold climates. I hope the Danes can sneak in here. Northern Ireland have no chance. They may even struggle to avoid finishing last Group G HollandRomaniaBulgaria Slovenia Albania Belarus Luxembourg Very open group bar the winners, Holland. I'd say everyone down to Belarus has a chance here. I think Belarus are better than their seeding anyway. It all depends what form Romania are in but an interesting group none-the-less |
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Thor
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Post by Thor on Jan 27, 2006 13:27:29 GMT 1
I think UEFA have dropped the ball here, actually... 50 teams; 7 groups in total (an eight and 6 sevens), 14 to qualify. Obviously, top 2 from each group will qualify, with no need for play-offs... but each team plays on at least 12 out of 14 matchdays. A better way to organise it would be to have the 50 divided into groups of 6 and 5... 9 groups in total. 5 groups of 6 and 4 groups of 5. 10 matchdays for the group stage; the 9 group winners and best runners-up progress. The remaining 8 runners-up play in two-leg play-offs, with the winners going through. Total matchdays: only 12, and most teams will only need to play 10 matches, instead of 12. I'm much in favour of this format with less groups with more teams. The old format allows teams to stagnate and progress very easily to every tournament because they don't come up against any serious competition. This format means no team gets an easy ride. |
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Jan 27, 2006 13:36:50 GMT 1
we will see how well england do  i have a feeling they will struggle against israel just like Rep of Ireland, France and Switzerland did, also Croatia are a big team and you would expect them to be Englands toughest oponents.... Russia on their day could also cause a problem expecially away from home and does anyone remember a certain 2-2 with Macedonia last time they met England... By no means a walk in the park, but we should atleast qualify |
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Post by Admin on Jan 27, 2006 13:59:13 GMT 1
Top 2 going through should help us, as daz says, it's never as easy as it looks on paper as we always make it hard for ourselves, but we can hope that other teams will slip up and take points off each other as well.
When do the first games for this start, aug/sep of 2006?
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Post by Earl Purple on Jan 27, 2006 14:18:47 GMT 1
Come on Israel! I may go to that game as an away supporter.
(Will England be playing home games at Wembley by then?)
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Post by Robin on Jan 27, 2006 14:32:29 GMT 1
Come on Israel! I may go to that game as an away supporter. (Will England be playing home games at Wembley by then?)  |
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Post by greendemon on Jan 27, 2006 15:22:25 GMT 1
woo! we shouldn't have any problems with that... pity about the other british nations, though  any one of them will be lucky to make it through... |
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frag
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Post by frag on Jan 27, 2006 16:15:51 GMT 1
I'm much in favour of this format with less groups with more teams. The old format allows teams to stagnate and progress very easily to every tournament because they don't come up against any serious competition. This format means no team gets an easy ride. But you're asking teams to play between 2 and 4 extra matches, possibly even 6 in the extreme case... squeezing the league seasons and the summer/winter breaks, which could lead to a below-par tournament. Perhaps there is no perfect solution (except to reduce the top leagues to 18 teams and stop buggering about with the pointless UEFA cup group stage) |
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Post by Admin on Jan 27, 2006 17:09:00 GMT 1
They get paid enough money imo, so they can play the extra games, after all they wont take a pay cut if they play less games will they?
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Ireland and Wales in the same group tho, i reckon thats bad news for both of them.
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i have a feeling they will struggle against israel just like Rep of Ireland, France and Switzerland did, also Croatia are a big team and you would expect them to be Englands toughest oponents....
any one of them will be lucky to make it through...