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"England a top seed?"

Who thinks England will be a top seed for their Euro 2004 finals group? If not, who will be (apart from Portugal of course). Discuss.

Also, on December 5th is the World Cup 2006 qualifying draw (yes, already). England weren't actually the top seeds in their group this year. It was Turkey. Surely England have proven that they can finish top of a Euro qualifying group by now?

Don or†ega wrote:

> A France 3.000
> A Sweden 2.389
> A Czech Republic 2.333
> B Italy 2.313
> B Spain 2.313
> B England 2.313
> B Germany 2.188
> C Netherlands 2.167
> C Croatia 2.125
> C Russia 2.056
> C Denmark 2.056
> D Bulgaria 1.889
> D Switzerland 1.611
> D Greece 1.563
> D Latvia 1.250

Look at that. They've already decided it!

Holland will not be a 3rd seed despite their relatively recent poor run in failing to qualify for WC 2002 and only via the playoffs for Euro 2004.

Holland, England, Czech Republic and Spain will be the 2nd seeds.

Worst possible draw for England:

France
England
Holland
Bulgaria

Agree?

I fully agree with Ashley actually. Pot A is weak bar France. but France themselves often underperform against the better teams.

personally i'm glad we are in pot B. I'd rather play any of the pot A teams (except france) than any of our fellow pot B teams. we can have portugal, czech republic and sweden. Don't fancy playing italy and germany and spain are always unknown qualities

Don or†ega wrote:
> Seedings are based on qualifying for euro 2004 and qualifying for
> world cup 2002

Yes, I can certainly see how matches played as far back as 2000 are perfectly relevant for looking at current form.



MUUUUUH

Insane Bartender wrote:
"Personally, I think Spain will be a team to watch. They will be desperate to perform on their neighbours soil, will have little or no climate shock to contend with and also seem to have found their goal touch, given last night's result."
-----

But did you see their 3rd goal last night; the one by Joséba Etxeberria? I always had high-hopes for Espen Johnsen in the future (since Championship Manager games are usually quite accurate with this kind of stuff), but it he's gonna lob himself by smacking the ball straight into the opposition's face, I really don't see how this dream is going to come true, for certain...

But yes, they do have some quality players, and did score 2 other goals to settle the tie, last night.

Seedings are based on qualifying for euro 2004 and qualifying for world cup 2002

A France 3.000
A Sweden 2.389
A Czech Republic 2.333
B Italy 2.313
B Spain 2.313
B England 2.313
B Germany 2.188
C Netherlands 2.167
C Croatia 2.125
C Russia 2.056
C Denmark 2.056
D Bulgaria 1.889
D Switzerland 1.611
D Greece 1.563
D Latvia 1.250

nope, england are in the 2nd pot.

*laughs*

England are the 4th highest rated European team atm. If they're not seeded, it's some dumb politically motivated move rather than a footballing one (the type of decision which is becoming increasingly popular - Switzerland to host a major international tournament? Why?).

Personally, I think Spain will be a team to watch. They will be desperate to perform on their neighbours soil, will have little or no climate shock to contend with and also seem to have found their goal touch, given last night's result.

I'm hoping France can do as well in this tournament as they did in the World Cup.