The Republic of Ireland have been drawn against Russia and Slovakia for their upcoming qualifying campaign for Euro 2012.The Slovakian's qualified for this summers World Cup when they beat Slovenia to top spot in their group and it was Slovenia who then went on to knock out Russia, coached by Guus Hiddink, at the same stage as Ireland. In their group the Russians finished second to Germany after a decisive defeat in Moscow.
Former international Manager John Giles felt it was a good draw as the Eastern European teams are not as highly rated as the traditional powerhouses.
"Russia haven't qualified for the world cup, so they can't be playing as well as other teams."
While former player Ronnie Whelan, speaking on RTE, was bullish about the chances of the boys in green: "there's nothing in there to frighten us, we have to go in with confidence"
The Russian team includes some household names such as Andriy Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Chelsea's Yuri Zhirkhov and are sure to guarantee a full house whenever they visit the new Aviva Stadium. But their trump card is Hiddink, however the Dutch trainers' current contract with the Russian federation will expire this summer and speculation continues to link the former PSV Eindhoven coach with top European clubs.
The remainder of the group B is made up of minnows; Andorra and Armenia, but Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should provide a sterner test.
The championships will be hosted by Poland and the Ukraine and Ireland will need to finish as a group winner or as the best runner-up from all nine groups to avoid another dreaded play-off.
After the confusion which arose over UEFA's delayed decision to seed the higher ranked teams in November's World Cup playoff, the governing body has this time around, taken the step to clarify their rules.
The same seeding process will once again come into effect and the playoffs will not be an open draw. With the higher ranked teams also guaranteed the advantage of playing the first leg away from home.
In other Group's: Brian Kerr's Faroe Islands will be pitted against Northern Ireland in group C. The former Ireland coach is sure to pin the words of Lawrie Sanchez to his dressing room wall after he labelled the North Atlantic side "a gimme".
In group G Fabio Capello's England will face sticky opposition in bottom seeds Montenegro. While Bulgaria can only improve on their last campaign and the inclusion of Wales can add the extra spice of a derby feel to games which England will be fully expected to win.
Scotland, now under Craig Levein, look like they will be in for another uphill struggle as they are in the same pot as championship holders, Spain. But they will be hopeful of overturning a Czech Republic side in transition.
The next step for all managers and associations will be to agree a schedule of fixtures and for Ireland it will be beneficial to avoid a winter trip to Moscow or Bratislava.
The draw in full:
Group A: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Germany.
Group B: Andorra, Armenia, FYR Macedonia, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Russia
Group C: Faroe Islands, Estonia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Serbia,
Group D: Luxembourg, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, France.
Group E: San Marino, Moldova, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands.
Group F: Malta, Georgia, Latvia, Israel, Greece, Croatia.
Group G: Montenegro, Wales, Bulgaria, Switzerland, England.
Group H: Iceland, Cyprus, Norway, Denmark, Portugal.
Group I: Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Scotland, Czech Republic, Spain.
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