Spain gets Czechs in Euro 2012 qualifying draw

Defending champion Spain will have the Czech Republic and Scotland among its rivals in what should be a straightforward qualifying route to the 2012 European Championship, while World Cup winner Italy got a tougher draw.

Lithuania and Liechtenstein completed Group I in Sunday's draw, meaning Spain, the top-ranked team in the world, will not have to face any side that qualified for this year's World Cup in South Africa.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, whose team was the last to be picked, said he was "relatively pleased" with the draw and that Spain was in a five-team group.

"It's true that these teams did not qualify for the World Cup but we cannot be sure because there are no differences in football today. Liechtenstein appears easy, but we have to take care against the other three," he said.

Germany, the runner-up to Spain in 2008 and three-time champion, was placed with Turkey and neighboring Austria in Group A. Germany beat both teams on the way to the final, including a dramatic 3-2 victory over Turkey in the semis.

Turkey has a large number of fans among its immigrants in Germany. The Germans will also face Belgium, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, coached by former Germany boss Berti Vogts, which they also played in 2010 World Cup qualifying.

"I am neither shocked nor pleased. Logistically, it's not going to be simple," Germany coach Joachim Loew said of the long trips to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. "It's a German-speaking group with many German coaches."

Kazakhstan's coach is also a German, Bernd Storck.

Austria co-hosted the last tournament with Switzerland but has never qualified otherwise.

"With Germany and Turkey, we have two top teams ... These are two teams which we can annoy or even beat on a very good day," Austria coach Dietmar Constantini said. "Our goal remains the same: we must have the will to reach the unrealistic - the qualification."

Italy will play two teams that have qualified for this year's tournament in South Africa - Serbia and Slovenia.

"It's a very demanding group, the only group with three World Cup finalists," Serbia coach Radomir Antic said after the draw. "Italy has all the experience, they know how to play championships. And Slovenia eliminated Russia from the World Cup."

Italy, which won the European title in 1968, also faces Northern Ireland, Estonia and the Faeroe Islands in Group C

Italy coach Marcello Lippi, who did not attend the draw, said in Rome that it was a "balanced group" and that it was an advantage to be in a pool of six teams.

England, which failed to qualify for Euro 2008, was with another World Cup finalist, Switzerland, in Group G. It also faces neighbor Wales and has two trips to the Balkans, to Bulgaria and Montenegro.

"It's my first derby as manager of the national team, it will be interesting. They are a good young team," England manager Fabio Capello said of Wales. "It is a tough group because all the games will be strong games to play."

England was drawn into one of three groups with five teams, while the other six have six teams in each.

"I prefer a smaller group because I play less games but the group is really tough," Capello said. "All these four opponents are really dangerous. There is big confidence in my team."

France, the 2000 champion, will again face Romania after also playing the team in 2010 World Cup qualifying. The other Group D teams are Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania and Luxembourg.

"Romania is always a tough opponent... we didn't beat them in the World Cup qualifying," France's technical director Gerard Houllier said. "It's not a bad draw, it could have been worse."

Greece, the 2004 champion, has Croatia and Israel as its rivals in Group F, plus Latvia, Georgia and Malta.

Portugal will have three trips to northern Europe, with World Cup finalist Denmark, Norway and Iceland awaiting along with Cyprus.

The Netherlands will have two Nordic rivals in Sweden and Finland, plus Hungary, Moldova and San Marino in Group E.

"First we need to deal with the World Cup," Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said. "It is really great that we will play against Hungary (coached by Dutchman Eric Koeman). That makes that match really a bit more interesting."

Dutch captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst called it a good draw. "We expect Sweden to be a tough opponent. They will be seeking revenge for their failure to qualify for the World Cup."

Russia, which like Croatia did not qualify for the World Cup but was placed among the nine top-seeded teams, is in Group B along with Slovakia, which has qualified for the World Cup.

Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have a territorial dispute, no diplomatic relations and refused to play each other in qualifying for Euro 2008, were kept apart. When Armenia was picked to play in Group A with Azerbaijan, it was automatically moved to Russia's Group B, which also has Ireland, Macedonia and Andorra.

The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record qualify directly for the final tournament. The remaining eight runners-up will go into a home-and-away playoff round that will be played in November 2011. Four teams in those playoffs will be seeded.

As co-hosts, Poland and Ukraine qualify for the tournament automatically.

The tournament will be played in four Polish cities - Warsaw, Gdanks, Poznan and Wroclaw - and four Ukrainian venues - Kiev, Kharkov, Lvov and Donetsk. Kiev will stage the final.

Former stars Zbigniew Boniek and Andrzej Szarmach of Poland, along with Oleh Blokhin and Andriy Shevchenko of Ukraine, drew the small white balls with the 51 teams' names from six different pots.