RAYMOND Domenech had been a fierce critic of the seeding system in the days leading up to the Euro 2008 finals draw, so it came as no surprise yesterday when the French coach described being grouped with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania as "madness".
Group C stood out from all the rest when the 16 teams were drawn into four sections for next summer's championship in Austria and Switzerland. The Italians are world champions, France were the World Cup finalists last year, the Netherlands were the t
op seeds for yesterday's proceedings, while stylish Romania came through their qualifying group three points ahead of the Dutch.
"I have to say the way the seedings are worked out is madness," said Domenech after a draw that was about as unkind as he could have feared. "Not to have Italy, as the world champions, in the first pot is crazy. I am not happy. Nothing I wanted has worked out."
UEFA had calculated the seedings on the basis of results in the qualification tournaments for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008 and not taken into account performances in the World Cup finals themselves. That meant Domenech's men were among the four bottom seeds and suggested a Group of Death was always likely. Furthermore, the top seeds, for once, did not contain the strongest teams because three of the four spaces were reserved for joint hosts Austria and Switzerland and reigning European champions Greece.
While the French at least have good memories of playing Italy in the European Championship - they beat the Italians in the final of Euro 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium to win the tournament for the second time - Les Bleus are still smarting from losing to the Azzurri in Berlin at the 2006 World Cup final. Italy also finished above France in the recent qualifying section for Euro 2008 in a group that included Scotland.
"We would love to have avoided the three other teams but now we've got it we'll have to deal with it," continued Domenech, before also lamenting the fact that the Group C fixtures will be played in Switzerland rather than Austria.
The French play Romania in Zurich, the Netherlands in Berne and finish up back in Zurich on 17 June. "I would also preferred to have played in Austria and not Switzerland because we would have been hassled less," explained Domenech."
Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, now France's technical director, was disappointed but bullish. "We'll have to be very good from the first game and it may all come down to the one against Italy," he said. "I think Italy will be eliminated because the Netherlands will be better."
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni, whose side needed a win over Scotland last month to secure their place at Euro 2008, told reporters at Lucerne's Congress and Culture Centre that he was disappointed to be in another tough section.
"We didn't have an easy qualification group and we haven't been lucky here either," he said. "I had a gut feeling on the way here it would turn out like this."
The Netherlands, European champions in 1988, also had bad luck in the draw for the 2006 World Cup finals, where they came through a group featuring Argentina and Serbia & Montenegro. Dutch coach Marco van Basten said: "At the last World Cup we were already in the 'group of death'. I don't know what we're going to call this one. But I think everything went normally and legally in the draw so what can you say?"
Romania's best performance in three previous European Championship appearances was a quarter-final place in 2000. But coach Victor Piturca saw the funny side yesterday. "For us it's a very nice, easy group," he joked.
"I hope it will be an extraordinary experience and why shouldn't we be one of the teams to make it through?"
The draw was not particularly kind to the co-hosts either, with Switzerland facing the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey in their group and Austria meeting Croatia, Germany and Poland. Switzerland open the tournament against the Czechs in Basel on 7 June, with the final taking place in Vienna on 29 June.
Holders Greece kick off the defence of their title against Sweden and also face Spain and Russia. Their group is almost a replica of Group A in Portugal in 2004 when Greece, Spain and Russia were drawn together along with Portugal.
After meeting the Czech Republic, Switzerland face Turkey on 11 June in Basel, a game that recalls an ugly incident two years ago when Turkish and Swiss players were involved in a brawl at the end of a World Cup playoff in Istanbul, leading to severe sanctions for both sides.
Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn said: "I think we will see a fair game with no spectator problems."
What
the coaches say
GR
OU
P A
"There is no problem between Switzerland and Turkey [after a mass brawl at the end of a World Cup qualifying play-off in 2005]. Too many people have been fixating on things that should have been long forgotten."
- Koebi Kuhn (Switzerland)
"The last person I embraced before coming here was [Swiss striker] Alex Frei. So there is no problem."
- Fatih Terim (Turkey)
"All the teams have their own qualities. I will only be able to say I'm satisfied if we go through."
- Karel Bruckner (Czech Rep)
"All the coaches in this group are very experienced. I hope it's a fair group. Let's see who can benefit the most from the experience."
- Luis Felipe Scolari (Portugal)
GROU
P B
"For me Germany are the clear favourites. We are, of course, the outsiders but there are worse things than being outsiders."
- Josef Hickersberger (Austria)
"This is the most difficult group. Austria are playing at home, Germany are one of the best teams in the world and Poland are here for the first time which is a good motivation."
- Slaven Bilic (Croatia)
"It's a group that's not as difficult as Group C but everyone has to play at a high level to win this championship."
- Joachim Loew (Germany)
"It's a big challenge but I love big challenges and so do my players. It is always good to play against the best, and we will be playing close to Poland."
- Leo Beenhakker (Poland)
GROU
P C
"At the last World Cup we were already in the 'group of death'. I don't know what we're going to call this one. I think everything went normally and legally in the draw so what can you say?"
- Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
"We didn't have an easy qualification group and we haven't been lucky here either. I had a gut feeling on the way here it would turn out like this."
- Roberto Donadoni (Italy)
"For us it's a very nice, easy group! Why shouldn't we be one of the teams to make it through to the quarter-finals?"
- Victor Piturca (Romania)
"I don't think we're the happiest four coaches here after the draw and the way it worked out."
- Raymond Domenech (France)
GROU
P D
"I won't speculate on who is favourite for the group. For me the important thing is that my players are sound, in order that I can bring them here safely."
- Otto Rehhagel (Greece)
"I think Spain is one of the absolutely best teams in Europe and it's a good thing, I think, that we had the experience of these two matches in qualification."
- Lars Lagerback (Sweden)
"I believe that everything we went through to get here will serve us well. Personally, I think it's a manageable group."
- Luis Aragones (Spain)
"If you read the press, everyone wants us to be in their group, then these three are the luckiest that they have us. But at the end, we'll see. "
- Guus Hiddink (Russia)
