The Republic of Ireland face some tricky away tests in qualifying for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, but ultimately there is little to fear for Giovanni Trapattoni and his side, from the draw made in Warsaw this morning. In Russia, Ireland have drawn a top seed that failed to qualify for the World Cup but second seeds Slovakia are on the way to South Africa. Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra complete Group B.
All in all, it should be welcomed with open arms by Trapattoni, who could have been left planning for far more daunting tasks.
Russia emerged from Pot One ahead of Italy, Netherlands, Spain, England, Croatia, Portugal and France - though the latter would have offered an early chance to exact revenge for Thierry Henry's infamous handball in Paris last November.
In qualifying for South Africa, Slovakia topped a group containing Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Northern Ireland - winning seven from 10 and losing just two - but recent history favours Ireland after Steve Staunton's side took four points from six from them in the campaign for Euro 2008.
Macedonia are a ghost from qualifiers past, having consigned Ireland to one of their most embarrassing and costly results in 1999, when Mick McCarthy's team were denied a place at Euro 2000 thanks to a last-gasp equaliser from Goran Stavreski.
Their latest qualifiers, however, saw them register just seven points, though they did open their quest to reach South Africa with a 1-0 win over Scotland at home.
In public, at least, Trapattoni wasn't getting too excited today, sounding a cautious but optimistic not in Warsaw.
"Before the games none are easy or difficult," he said. "All the groups are evenly balanced.
“Two teams are hard – Russia and Slovakia - but we have shown in the past that we can play against every team, like Italy and France.
“Ireland have shown that we can play against all the famous teams.
“We can play with the same mentality and same belief (as in the World Cup qualifiers). That is important.
“It is important that we play like we did in the last few games, like in Bulgaria.”
Representatives of each association will meet on February 28th in Bratislava to discuss the fixture list.
The biggest concern arising from the draw will come from the money-men at Abbotstown, who will be disappointed not to see at least on box office opponent coming to the new Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road.
The likes of Germany, England, Spain or France would have guaranteed huge windfalls in terms of television revenue and it is conceivable that today's draw has cost the FAI in or around €4 million.
“I wouldn’t worry about that," said FAI chief executive John Delaney after the draw, "from our perspective it’s about qualifying and it’s a group we can qualify from.”
Delaney will worry about it, however, given times are tight and the association is yet to sell all of it's premium 10-year tickets - which range from €10,000 to €32,000 in pric - for the new stadium.
Northern Irelandhave been drawn in Group C along with Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Estonia and Brian Kerr's Faroe Islands.
Manager Nigel Worthington told Sky Sports News: "I think it makes for a very interesting group and I'm absolutely delighted with the draw - I can see teams in that group taking points off each other.
"You want to be tested against the best and Italy are. Serbia are a very good team, we had Slovenia last time in the World Cup qualifiers so we know all about them.
"Brian Kerr is with the Faroe Islands now and knows the British game inside out so that doesn't make it any easier.
"We've got to make sure we are switched on. There is plenty to battle for and we've got to make sure we are at our most professional and disciplined so we get the most out of the games.
"It will be difficult but we have a fighting spirit and will go into the campaign with great belief.
"The nice thing about the current squad is we have got the same squad going into the next campaign with good experience and good youth. We are looking forward to it."
Englandand Waleswill meet in a daunting Group G that also includes Bulgaria, Switzerland and Montenegro.
Fabio Capello said before the draw he was hoping for a five-team group, but he reckons his side have got one of the toughest draws.
The Italian told Sky Sports News: "I think the worst groups were group A and group G and we got group G.
"It's a tough group because each game will be strong games to play."
For Scotland, Spain, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Liechtenstein await in Group I.
EURO 2012 QUALIFIERS
Group A
Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan
Group B
Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland,FYR Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra
Group C
Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland,Slovenia, Estonia, Faro Islands
Group D
France, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg
Group E
Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino
Group F
Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta
Group G
England,Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales,Montenegro
Group H
Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland
Group I
Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland,Lithuania, Liechtenstein