The UEFA Euro 2012 Championships  will be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine. The event is the final one to be 16 teams as the next one in 2016 will increase to twenty four teams. Poland and Ukraine defeated Italy and Croatia/Hungary for the right to host the competition.
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The games will basically be split 50/50 between the two hosts. Polish venues to put on matches will be Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan. The Ukrainian towns will be Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk.
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The final will take place in Kiev which will also have a semi-final. This will be at the Olimpiysky National Sports Complex which after construction will be one of the premier stadiums and sporting complexes anywhere. The new stadium in Warsaw is also being built and guarantees to be a state of the art stadium.
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The draw for the competition has been made and qualifying games will commence following the 2010 World Cup. All of the nine group winners and the best runner-up will receive direct entry into the championships. Following that the remaining 8 runner-up will be drawn into two-legged playoffs.
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From Group A you would feel Germany and Turkey would be too solid with Austria and Belgium being the contenders.
Group B looks to be a three way contest with Russia, Slovakia and Ireland.
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In Group C it looks like it will be simple for Italy and Serbia. France is the most likely from Group D with Romania looking at the one to take second.
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There is a northern European vibe to Group E where it should be Netherlands and Sweden.
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Croatia and Greece are the likely challengers for Group F as are England and Switzerland for Group G.
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From Group H it looks like Portugal and Denmark and in conclusion from Group I it would appear to be Spain and the Czech Republic.
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Qualifying draws to a close in October 2011 by which time enthusiasm and expectancy for the UEFA Euro 2012 Finals will be well and truly underway.
Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, uefa euro 2012, Ukraine euro 2012