A whopping 22 qualifiers taking place across Europe on Friday as the road to Poland/Ukraine begins and there are a couple of teams that stand out at the prices.
Spain, fresh from their World Cup triumph, are quite rightly favourites to make it three major international tournament wins in a row in the summer of 2012 but it is two teams that failed to make the South African party that need backing and both Ireland and Croatia should start their campaigns with victories.
Ireland, who were so famously denied a place at the Summer jamboree as a result of Thierry Henry’s not so well disguised handball, begin in Armenia and the Irish will really fancy their chances in a soft looking group.
Only the side finishing in first place in each of the nine sections is guaranteed a place in the finals but with Russia, perhaps not the force of three or four years ago, their main opposition, Giovanni Trapattoni’s men have every chance of topping the group.
Ireland’s playoff defeat to France came as a result of finishing second to Italy and Trapattoni’s side were unbeaten behind his compatriots. They rarely fail to give their true running these days, espeically against the so-called minnows, and their key men should be raring to go having shaken off any rust in the opening weeks of the Premier League season.
While Robbie Keane, Ireland’s record scorer and now in possession of 100 international caps, is seemingly out of favour at his club Tottenham Hotspur, the striker is still very much the focal point in attack for Ireland and in recent months has formed a promising partnership with Kevin Doyle. The Wolverhampton Wanderers forward is improving all the time and, providing that duo see enough of the ball, they are bound to create chances against such mediocre opponents.
Armenia managed to shock Belgium 2-1 this time last year on home soil in World Cup qualification but that was their solitary win in a highly disappointing campaign and they managed just six goals in ten matches.
Ranked a lowly 96th in the current Fifa standings, Armenia are represented almost exclusively by home-based players and Friday’s opponents are clearly superior in every department.
I’m buoyed by the fact that Ireland look so strong at the back, the likes of John O’Shea and Richard Dunne protecting the excellent Shay Given in goal, and I have them nearer the 1.50 mark than the 1.73 available.
Elsewhere, Croatia travel to Latvia looking to make up for the disappointment of missing out on World Cup qualification and they should start with maximum points.
Having created such favourable impressions in recent major tournaments, Slaven Bilic’s side were ultimately undone by two thumping defeats to England, their only losses, in their bid to make South Africa but they can take care of Latvia with relatively little fuss and one moment of magic from any of the likes of Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric or the prolific Ivica Olic should be enough.
Latvia finished third in World Cup qualification behind Greece and Switzerland but it came as a result of four almost penalty kick wins over the hapless duo of Luxembourg and Moldova and Croatia should be too good for the hosts.
*2pts Back Ireland (vs. Armenia) @ 1.73 (Betfred)’*2pts Back Croatia (vs. Latvia) @ 1.66 (Betfred)’