Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious: World Cup 2010 Blog: Who Will Be the Surprise Qualifier for Euro 2012?

Friday, September 24, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: Who Will Be the Surprise Qualifier for Euro 2012?

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Who Will Be the Surprise Qualifier for Euro 2012?

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 02:52 PM PDT

Slovakia have already upset Russia at home – which other teams are capable of following their lead?

The Euro 2012 qualifiers are underway, and though it is still early in the process, it is never too early to start making predictions! At this point, most teams have already played two games and its mathematically possible for every team to still qualify. There is no guarantee that the teams struggling (or excelling!) now will continue that trend. Afterall, a lot can happen between now and the end of qualification (October 2011) – players can get injured, lose their place on their club team, lose confidence, become embroiled in off-field scandals etc. Of course, things can also improve and get better. But despite all these “what ifs” – there are a few teams that look like they can beat the odds to qualify for the tournament hosted by Poland & Ukraine in 2012.

Before we get into my nominations – I’d like to clarify what I mean by “surprise.” No one wants to hear that their team isn’t considered a European heavy-weight that strikes fear into the heart of their opponents fans. I wouldn’t be too offended. Frankly, a lot of those so-called heavy-weights that always qualify (France, Italy) have been less than impressive- and at the most recent World Cup those same ‘giants’ were the teams least able to put on an intimidating performance.

For the purposes of this list, I only considered teams eligible if they hadn’t qualified for a major senior international tournament since Euro 2004. Meaning that Slovakia – who already gave their fans a reason to book their Euro qualifying tickets by upsetting Russia in Moscow- are ineligible for this list….

And without further ado…my nominees!

Norway: They haven’t qualified for a major international tournament in a decade (Euro 2000) but they’ve looked strong in their recent outings since the World Cup. Their recent displays have demonstrated why they are the only team to have played Brazil and not lost yet (2 wins, 1 draw). In August, they beat France 2-1 at home in a friendly and won both of their qualification games earlier this month (2-1 vs Iceland away, 1-0 vs Portugal at home). Most football fans will be familiar with players like John Arne Riise and John Carew – but they may surprised when they see Toulouse’s Daniel Braaten lead the line for Norway. Braaten has already scored 3 goals and made 1 assist in Ligue 1 this season, enjoying the spotlight since Gignac’s departure for Marseille this summer.

Scotland: They haven’t qualified for a World Cup or European Championship since 1998. In their first two games, they accumulated 4 points (0-0 vs Lithuania away,2-1 vs Liechtenstein at home) – the same number of points they had after their first two games during qualification for World Cup 1998. In 2009, the selection for Scotland’s national team went through a major transition as the team’s captain, Barry Ferguson, and Allen McGregor were (initially) banned from every representing Scotland again. Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher later became the captain and leads a team that is capable of continuing Scotland’s legacy of being both fantastically good and bad.

Belarus: Belarus have never qualified for either a World Cup finals tournament or European Championship. Yet they sit tied with Albania on points at the top of Group D – which includes France, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Romania. They beat Les Bleus in the opening game of the campaign at Stade de France in Paris before drawing with Romania in game two. Both Aleksandr and Vyacheslav Hleb showcased their ability to anchor and lead the team in both games – providing Belarus fans with a chance to cheer for their national team for the first time in a major international tournament in their own neck of the woods.

Israel: Its been 40 years since Israel qualified for a major international tournament – last making the cut in 1970 when they won the chance to compete at the Mexico edition of the World Cup. In the 1950s and 1960s they were a successful team in the Asian region, placing 3rd or better in 4 consecutive tournaments between 1956 and 1968. However, since gaining European membership in 1994 – they have come close but ultimately failed to qualified for the European Championship each tournament. For 2012, they are tied on 4 points with Croatia, who sit on top of the group, having beaten Malta 3-1 at home and produced a draw with Georgia away. October will be a tough month that will test their qualification credentials because they will face Croatia and Greece back-to-back. But with players like Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea), Tal Ben Haim (West Ham) and Biram Kayal (Celtic) they stand of chance of collecting a few points from those matches.