Euro 2008 draw

France, Italy, Holland and Romania will be cursing Uefa's seeding systems after those four nations ended up in Group B in Sunday's draw for the Euro 2008 finals.Uefa calculated the seedings on the basis of results in the qualification tournaments for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008 and did not take into account performances in the finals in Germany last year.That system put world champions Italy among the pot of second seeds and beaten finalists France among the four bottom seeds.It has already been dubbed the "Group of Death", but given the fractious relationship between France and Italy in recent years, perhaps the Group of Poison might be more appropriate.Seven years ago in the Euro 2000 final between France and Italy, Sylvain Wiltord levelled in the final minute of the Euro 2000 final before David Trezeguet scored the golden-goal winner in extra time.Italy got their revenge in the 2006 World Cup final when Marcello Lippi's side came from behind to win on penalties, though the final was overshadowed by Zinedine Zidane's sending off after he headbutted Marco Materazzi.During the qualifiers for the 2008 tournament - France and Italy were in the same group. French coach Raymond Raymond Domenech got himself into hot water for his comments on bribery scandals involving the Azzurri.Domenech had accused Italy of bribing the referee of an Under-21 qualifying match for the 2000 Olympics between the two countries. "I'm not the one who invented the stories about refereeing in Italy," Domenech told Le Parisien newspaper. "Some matches have been fixed." Italy's 2006 match-fixing scandal, which led to Juventus being demoted and four clubs suffering a points deduction, centred on teams trying to secure favourable referees for league matches. The Czech Republic and Portugal will be the favourites to emerge from Group A, Germany and Croatia to qualify from Group B, though Group D - with Greece, Spain, Russia and Sweden - is more unpredictable.With no home nations managing to qualify for Euro 2008 the other imponderable is who are you going to support during the tournament.Since the 1974 World Cup finals I have had a soft spot for Holland. It's personal between me and Holland. My Mum insisted I go on a trip to London Zoo rather than watch the final against Germany and I've still got vivid memories of the coach journey home listening to the game on the radio. Who couldn't have a soft spot for a squad that is constantly falling out with one another, players and coaches who like to speak their minds, and whose preferred style of play is superbly technical football constructed in complicated triangles that invariably end up in the opposition side's defensive cul-de-sacs?I do like the Dutch fans as well. In 1998 I was in Toulouse to watch Holland beat Yugoslavia in the last 16 stage. I'll never forget walking behind a Dutch Volkswagen Campervan with a enormous speaker on the roof of said vehicle blaring out "You'll Never Walk Alone". Superb.
kessy58.........................................................................................