Posted on 02/23/2014 5:30:22 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper
...The tournament has been expanded from 16 to 24 teams for this edition, a political move by UEFA president Michel Platini that will arguably only dilute the quality and excitement.
...There was an awkward chuckle or two when Gibraltar and Armenia were drawn with the very teams they have refused to play against. Having broken away from Spain politically, it was pre-arranged that if drawn together, Gibraltar would be moved to another group. And as misfortune would have it, Gibraltar was indeed drawn into Spain’s Group C with Spain. So instead, it was dropped into Group D with Germany with Luxembourg travelling in the opposite direction. Azerbaijan and Armenia, caught up in a territorial conflict, were paired in Italy’s Group H. So Armenia was reassigned to Group I, getting swapped for Malta.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
for later
Group B
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Israel, Wales, Cyprus, Andorra
Group C
Spain, Ukraine, Slovakia, Belarus, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Luxembourg
Group D
Germany, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Scotland, Georgia, Gibraltar
Group E
England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, San Marino
Group F
Greece, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands
Group G
Russia, Sweden, Austria, Montenegro, Moldova, Liechtenstein
Group H
Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Malta
Group I
Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia, Albania
“...when Gibraltar and Armenia were drawn with the very teams they have refused to play against.”
There should have been no prearranged deal. I understand they have serious political conflicts, but if they can’t set that aside for 2 hours to play a game of soccer tell them to call back in a few years when they are ready to join the civilized world.
Interesting that the UK now gets to field five teams: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Gibraltar.
This has been going on forever. I don’t know how they get away with it. In the UK, they also play an annual tournament called the “Home Internationals” in which England will play Scotland and Northern Ireland will play Wales; they each play each other.
Arguably they are spreading out their best players over a number of teams and thus putting themselves at a disadvantage in international tournaments. When did they last win something big?
To the best of my knowledge, the last big England Win was the 1966 World Cup at Wembley. There is STILL some controversy over Geoff Hurst’s game-winning goal.
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