No easy matches in football anymore....UEFA Euro 2012 seedings
England have been guaranteed that they will avoid Germany in the group stages at Euro 2012 after UEFA announced the seedings for the draw in December.
England have been placed in Pot 2 alongside Germany, Italy and Russia, meaning that they cannot face any of those three sides until the quarter-finals of the tournament.
But they could still face a brutal group draw, with Spain, Netherlands, France and Portugal among their potential opponents - and one potential outcome being a 'Group of Death' that could see Spain, England, Portugal and France placed together in the same pool.
Republic of Ireland, who confirmed their place at the finals following a 5-1 aggregate play-off win over Estonia, are in Pot 4 and will be one of the bottom seeds when the draw is conducted in Kiev on Friday December 2.
As hosts, Poland and Ukraine are guaranteed of a place among the top seeds, as are reigning champions Spain, while Netherlands complete Pot 1 as they are the side with the next highest UEFA co-efficient.
The remaining pots are determined by where the respective countries are placed in the European governing body's co-efficient rankings.
Results in Tuesday's play-off second legs were taken into account and Croatia's failure to win against Turkey in Zagreb, even though they triumphed across the two legs, means it is Russia who join England, Germany and Italy in Pot 2.
The finals will comprise four groups, with one team from each pot represented in each group.
Pot 1: Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Netherlands
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland
When you look at how the groups could go, there really isn't any team you would be confident to go through. Imagine the easiest route for Spain would be possibly a group with Russia, Greece and Rep of Ireland, but it could go Germany, Portugal and France!! Should be a great tournament....but watch out for plenty of negative play with teams content to draw 0-0 or win 1-0 and just play offensively against the weakest team!