Road to Euro 2012 looks promising as England look to avoid further fiasco

WHEN Fabio Capello finally went under the surgeon's knife last month to sort out a long-standing knee problem, he had planned it with typical military precision.

With England not being due back in action until March 3 when Egypt will visit Wembley, the Italian having to spend a few weeks on crutches would not hinder the preparations for the World Cup finals.

In his absence, assistant Franco Baldini would be his eyes and ears in the Premier League, allowing Capello to return in time for the European Championships qualifying campaign draw on February 7.

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Unfortunately, the old adage about the 'best laid plans' has proved prophetic in the past week as the John Terry affair ensured it was anything but a quiet final few days of recuperation before Capello flew back into England yesterday.

An announcement is expected today on whether Terry is to be stripped of the captaincy as the Italian contends with the biggest dilemma of his reign. The affair has weighed heavily on Capello's mind, though what he has also not allowed to happen is his focus straying too far from Sunday's all-important draw in Warsaw.

Capello will be hoping for similar good fortune to that he enjoyed in December when England were handed what seems a relatively straight-forward run to the knockout stages of the World Cup.

The format for Euro 2012 remains unchanged. Only the top team in the nine groups will be guaranteed a place in Ukraine and Poland along with the runners-up boasting the best record. The other eight second- placed countries will then play off for the right to join the hosts in the finals.

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The portents ahead of Sunday are good with the Three Lions, despite the abject failure to reach Euro 2008 under Steve McClaren, being named as one of the nine top seeds.

It means England will not face any of European football's traditional big guns before the tournament itself kicks off three summers from now.

Looking through Pot Two, there are a few potential sides that Capello will be hoping to avoid. Portugal definitely fall into this category, even allowing for the struggles Cristiano Ronaldo et al had in qualifying for this year's World Cup.

Other potentially difficult opponents include Denmark and Switzerland, while one to avoid at all costs is Serbia – a side so impressive in qualifying that France were forced to book their own place in South Africa via the back-door.

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Of the nine countries in Pot Two, Romania – fifth in the group topped by Serbia with just 12 points from 10 games – appear the weakest along with the Czech Republic.

Pot Three offers similarly weak challengers, though Bosnia-Herzegovina are probably best avoided after only being denied a place in this year's World Cup by a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Portugal in the play-offs.

The passions that would inevitably be aroused by facing Scotland make Craig Levein's side one Capello would rather side-step, as is the case with both Irelands.

Otherwise, though, only Wales in Pot Four leap off the page as a potential banana skin to leave Capello more concerned with whether his men can avoid being drawn in one of the half dozen groups containing six teams.

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Such is the bloated state of international football that Pot Six contains half a dozen countries whose combined total of points from 60 games in the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup was 15.

Why these minnows are not involved in their own qualifying campaign is a question only UEFA can answer and England would be best served without having to waste their time on two extra meaningless fixtures.

Far better, in fact, to be drawn in one of the three five-team groups, not least because it will help pacify the Premier League managers.

Full seedings for Euro 2012 draw

Pot One: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia.

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Pot Two: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania.

Pot Three: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Pot Four: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus.

Pot Five: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.

Pot Six: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino.