Group H - Portugal set to struggle again
There are certainly easier groups out there, and with Portugal's ignominious exit from the World Cup (Captain Cristiano Ronaldo decided to express his displeasure at their Spain defeat by spitting at the camera), it looked like they would be in for a tricky qualifying campaign for Euro 2012.
And that was before coach Carlos Queiroz got suspended for six months after he was ruled to have disrupted an anti-doping test before the World Cup. What will happen to the former Manchester United coach is still not known, but what is known is the difficulty Portugal [1.71] had in qualifying for South Africa.
They finished second in their group behind Denmark after scoring only 17 goals in ten games - including a goalless draw with Albania. They did manage to come through a nervy play-off against Bosnia 2-0 on aggregate however, before their disappointing World Cup campaign.
They won't be looking forward to facing a couple of Scandinavians again, and could be looking at another play-off spot.
Denmark didn't exactly set the World Cup on fire, but showed glimpses of their quality against Cameroon and drew with Germany last month. They could be worth a punt at a very tempting [3.15] to get one over on Portugal again.
Since failing to qualify for the World Cup, Norway have been on a cracking run of form. They won five games on the trot before losing to the Ukraine 1-0. However, they bounced back with a 1-0 win against the young French team chosen in the wake of the World Cup, but qualification looks a bit beyond them at [6.6].
Elsewhere, Cyprus [32.0] and Iceland [28.0] will be little more than cannon fodder and will be battling between themselves to avoid finishing rock bottom.
We reckon Denmark will finish on top with Portugal running them close. What do you reckon? Let us know below...
Published: 3 Sep 2010
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