Race for 2016 European Championship starts with intriguing encounters
LONDON --
This week marks the start for qualification for the 2016 European Championships. Televised across the FOX family in partnership with ESPN, games begin with Germany against Scotland (live, FOX Sports 1, Sunday, 2:45 p.m. ET) and continue through Tuesday. Here's a look at five of the most intriguing games from this first round of action:
Denmark vs. Armenia (live, Sunday, 12 p.m. ET)
After Armenia had come so close to qualification for Euro 2012, a controversial first-half red card and an own goal in its final qualifier against the Republic of Ireland denying it a playoff place, there was a sense of disappointment about its World Cup qualifying campaign, as they finished second-bottom of a tight group. The one bright spot was a 4-0 win away to Denmark, adding a piquancy to the start of the qualifying campaign this time round. Vardan MInasyan has been replaced as manager by the former Switzerland Under-21 manager Bernard Challandes, and he still has a gifted young squad, centred on the Borussia Dortmund forward Henrykh Mkhitaryan. With the expansion of the Euros to 24 teams, the door is that much more open for the likes of Armenia to reach a major tournament. Denmark, meanwhile, entering its 15th year under the management of Morten Olsen, also has World Cup disappointment to put behind it, having been the ninth best runner-up in qualifying when the best eight made it to the playoffs.
Gibraltar vs. Poland (live, Sunday, FOX Soccer Plus/2GO, 2:45 p.m. ET)
To see Gibraltar play in international competition is, to paraphrase Dr. Johnson, like seeing a dog walking on its hind legs. It may not be done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all. It has an area of 2.3 miles and a population of 30,000 but last year it was welcomed into UEFA -- despite opposition from Spain -- and on Sunday it will play its first competitive match. It's a home game, but the lack of a stadium of sufficient quality means it will not play on the Rock but in Faro in southern Portugal, which, if nothing else, finds a use for a stadium built for Euro 2004 but struggling for a purpose ever since.
A 0-0 draw against Slovakia in its first fixture last November suggested Gibraltar may not be absolute minnows but, although it beat Malta in June, a 4-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands perhaps suggests its true level. The squad is dominated by players from Lincoln Red Imps, the most successful club in Gibraltar's league history, but there also two players from the Football League: Preston's Scott Wiseman and Jake Gosling of Bristol Rivers.
Georgia vs. Republic of Ireland (live, Sunday, 12 p.m. ET)
When the Republic of Ireland appointed Martin O'Neill as national manager last November, with Roy Keane as his assistant, there was an initial surge of enthusiasm. These were, after all, two charismatic, hard men, both manifestly intelligent and both, in their own way, with admirable track records. There has been a sense, though, that after that initial peak in interest, Ireland has begun to drift back into the apathy that characterised the end of Giovanni Trapattoni's reign. There is need for a good start to rekindle that spark. And, for all that the expansion of the European Championship has bred a cynicism about qualifying, this is a tough group. Germany can be expected to qualify with ease, while Gibraltar shouldn't be in the running, but Poland, Scotland and Georgia will all have realistic ambitions to take the second automatic qualification slot behind the world champions.
Austria vs. Sweden (live, Monday, 2:45 p.m ET)
No nation, perhaps, was quite so unfortunate in World Cup qualifying as Sweden. As though being drawn with Germany in the group weren't hard enough, it then had to play a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal in the playoff. Zlatan Ibrahimovic lost out in that shoot-out, but there can be little doubt that Sweden is a better side than many of the European nations who did make it to Brazil. In World Cup qualifying, it lost only twice; once to Germany, and once to Austria, an improving young side that ended up third in the group -- and now have the skiing legend Hermann Maier as a mental coach. They meet again on Monday, with both sides harboring genuine hopes of making the automatic qualifying berths. Moldova and Liechtenstein shouldn't provide too much resistance, but Fabio Capello's Russia is the seeded team in the group while Montenegro, a team that habitually starts qualifying well only to fade, will see opportunity in the expanded format.
Czech Republic vs. Netherlands (live, Tuesday, 2:45 p.m. ET)
Meetings between the Czech Republic and the Netherlands in the Euros inevitably call to mind images of their epic group game at Euro 2004 when a superb Czech side featuring Pavel Nedved, Karel Pobosrky and Milan Baros came from 2-0 down to beat the Dutch of Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Tomas Rosicky and Arjen Robben survive from that clash in Aveiro, but both squads are probably weaker now than they were then, the Czechs especially so. The Dutch surpassed expectation in reaching the semifinal of the World Cup, but Louis van Gaal has gone now, to be replaced by Guus Hiddink, back for his second spell as national coach. He is as tactically flexible as they come, but it will be revealing whether he sticks with the 3-5-2 that proved so effective in Brazil. The Czechs also have a new coach in Pavel Vrba, who led Viktoria Plzen to the league title two seasons running and into the group stages of the Champions League for a record three years in a row.