Euro 2012 Draw
Punters both sides of the Irish Sea are getting excited over the possible ramifications of Friday December 2nd’s Euro 2012 draw. England’s defeat of the reigning World and European champions Spain should ensure that the tabloid press go into unrealistic hype overdrive. Halfords and Tesco will be expecting record sales next summer of St George’s flags to adorn patriotic English cars manufactured in continental Europe.
As the co-hosts Poland and the Ukraine automatically go into the top seeding’s Pot 1 alongside Spain and the Netherlands there is highly likely to be a draw with a very lopsided look to it. Fabio Capello has a 50/50 chance of being a) drawn alongside one of the top two sides in the world or b) drawn with one of two teams who would have been a 3/1 shot to qualify if they were not hosting. Make no mistake, this is one of the most controversial draws at a major sporting seen for years and the ramifications in the betting market will be huge once the parade of former footballing greats and UEFA dignitaries have done their thing
Ireland’s quiet progression under Giovanni Trapattoni has gone unnoticed in some quarters but they have risen to a ranking of 25 in FIFA’s world rankings which puts them ahead of more illustrious names such as Turkey, Colombia and the Czech Republic. They will be hoping to avoid a “group of death” pitting them against Spain, Germany and Portugal and will instead be hoping for a more friendly draw of Poland, Russia and Greece or Sweden. Some cynics are even discussing the possibility of a “group of debt” featuring Spain, Italy, Greece and Ireland-more tabloid headlines await no doubt if that comes to pass.
Here in Dublin, the talk is of Ireland dodging the top teams from the top 3 pots but opinion is mixed on wanting to draw England or not. If they stay apart, (a 1/3 shot by my reckoning) rumours of an Ireland v England friendly being played in the run up to Euro 2012 are rife which would provide a fixture that both sets of fans will be “up for”.
These teams have not met since the infamous abandoned 1995 fixture at Lansdowne Road when rioting England fans caused the game to be called off. It would be a huge occasion here and would provide more talking points with the locals, although they don’t need much more encouragement when they find out you work for a company involved with betting.
The positives of an Ireland v England friendly would be an increase in business levels for both Star Spreads here in Ireland and also no doubt for fixed odds back in England but an increase in fares for our commuter flights, queues for taxis etc and the possibility of marauding drunken football fans down O’Connell Street bringing their own version of the ‘craic’ make this a fixture better played out at the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine a more appealing call for me.
