As someone who loves to see the underdog triumph, I thought I'd put feelers out as to who you SNers think are the most likely "unexpected" teams to make EURO 2012 for next year.
The candidates:
Belgium, Group A - once a perennial tournament-maker, they went into a real rut after WC 2002, but might be on the comeback trail to a degree. Turkey does have a point's edge and a game in hand, but they also still have to play Azerbaijan again, against whom they faceplanted to the tune of 1-0.
Armenia, Group B - The small Caucasian country with a population roughly half a million less than metropolitan Montreal (in other words, around 3.2 million) have put up some rather surprising results in the qual tournament, such as drawing Russia (a nation with around 138 million
more people
) scoreless, and stunning Slovakia 3-1. Usually minnows, they have played with surprising class this time around, with the only real
definitive victory over them coming at the hands of the aforementioned Russians (3-1).
Estonia, Group C - I usually write these guys off as overly defensive, boring, talent-deprived minnows. But this tournament they have pulled off a couple of big upsets, beating both Serbia and Slovenia once, and even beating the former
on their own turf. Even though Serbia has a game in hand on them, the Estonians have played both matches against first-place Italy while Serbia has not. To make matters more interesting, Slovenia and Serbia are both only a single point ahead of them for second place at the moment.
Bosnia and Hercegovina, Group D - could this be the year the Bosniaks finally kick their seeming jinx? They always seem to come up just short of making any tournament, and oddly enough seem to do better in World Cup quals than they do in EURO. However, having narrowly lost to Portugal in the quals for South Africa 2010, Bosnia, I think, really has something to prove. They are certainly one of the world's best teams to have never made the World Cup. They currently hold second in the group, so who knows?
Belarus, Group D - previously written off as a two-man show (the Hleb brothers, that is), it seems the Belas have pulled together as a team and shown that they can compete, although the loss on Friday against Bosnia on their own turf doesn't help.
Hungary, Group E - once a world football power, the Hungarians have not qualified for the final stages of a major tournament since 1986. However, we saw flickers of life in the side in the qualifications for the 2010 World Cup, where they were in the thick of it until the very end, where they came up three points shy of second-place Portugal (they also finished behind Sweden, with Denmark ending up on top). A recent win over the aforementioned Swedes now has those two sides dead-even in the points for second place, although their head-to-head results wouldn't be enough to put them through to the playoffs based on the same, and Sweden has a game in hand. One thing playing heavily in Hungary's favour, though, is that one of Sweden's last three is against the yet-unbeaten Dutch.
Israel, Group F - don't count them out just yet!
Another team that seems to fall just short on a regular basis, the Israelis still have a shot at not only getting past the group stage, but if Greece and Croatia both somehow manage to faceplant, they could even win the group!
Montenegro, Group G - it seems these guys have all but locked up second place, and if the Swiss lose even one of their last three (one of which is actually against the Montenegrins) then they're in. Of course, the Brave Falcons could have made their lives a lot simpler by beating Wales.
Being how they play England next, it will either come down to the Swiss faceplanting (which I hope happens because I think Swiss football is
insufferably boring) or Montenegro beating the Swiss at home.
Norway, Group H - the Norwegians have been on a skid since 2000, falling short of every major tournament for which they've entered into qualifications - they were ousted in playoffs by Spain for EURO 2004 and the Czechs for WC 2006 in Germany, completely bombed out of EURO 2008, and finished a remote second in their group for WC 2010, not being good enough to continue on to the playoffs. However, the run up to EURO 2012 has been surprising to say the least. They've beaten Portugal and drawn Denmark, and their only loss has come against the Portuguese. If they beat Denmark on Tuesday, they can finish no worse than second because of head-to-head results against the same.
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