EUROPEAN DRAWSTHE CARROT of a meeting with Dynamo Kiev in the next round, and a winnable first qualifying-round tie, had Drogheda United manager Paul Doolin pleased following yesterday's Uefa Champions League pairing with Estonian champions Levadia Tallinn.
Drogheda, who yesterday also completed the signing of Sligo Rovers' attacking midfielder Fahrudin Kuduzovic for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract, are at "home" at Dalymount Park on Wednesday, July 16th, with the away leg a week later.
The winners meet Kiev, twice successful in the European Cup Winners' Cup and three times semi-finalists in the Champions League, in the second qualifying round.
"There was a worry that we might have a long away trip ahead of us, but I think we could have done a lot worse than getting a team from Estonia," said Doolin.
Levadia currently top the Estonian league and are no strangers to facing League of Ireland opposition having twice played Bohemians earlier this decade.
Bohemians knocked Levadia out of the Champions League first-round qualifiers 3-0 on aggregate in 2001 while surprisingly losing 3-1 at home in the second leg of the Uefa Cup first qualifying round (having drawn 0-0 away) in 2003, which resulted in the sacking of then manager Stephen Kenny.
"They have done quite well in both the Uefa Cup and Champions League qualifiers in recent years," added Doolin. "They will be used to travelling all around Europe for games like this and will know what to expect.
"Hopefully, we can get off to the best possible start with a win in the first leg, which thankfully is at home and that means we have the necessary time to prepare for the games.
"Dinamo Kiev are a club with a great history and it would be a huge test to come up against them. Playing teams like that is what the Champions League is all about. It's a great incentive for the players to get past Levadia."
In the Uefa Cup both St Patrick's Athletic and Cork City have also been presented with a reasonably good chance of going through after drawing Latvian side JFK Olimps and FC Haka of Finland respectively.
Beaten Latvian cup finalists Olimps, founded just three years ago and in their first season in Europe, have struggled badly this season, currently languishing bottom of the Latvian Virsliga having won just one of their 13 league games to date.
St Patrick's are away in the first leg on July 17th, with the return at Richmond Park a fortnight later.
St Pat's manager John McDonnell will get a gauge of how strong the Latvian league is when Bohemians face FK Riga, currently third in their league, in the Intertoto Cup over the next two weekends.
"I think the draw was a lot tougher for us last year when we got Odense as they were probably the hardest team in the actual section we were picked from," said McDonnell about their 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Danish side.
While in the same neck of the woods, Cork, at home in the first leg, would appear to have a slightly more arduous task against last season's Finnish runners-up Haka.
While currently in eighth place in their league, the nine-times Finnish champions have a proud European tradition.
Champions League
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
(First-leg ties to be played July 15/16th; second legs on July 22/23rd).
Linfield v Dinamo Zagreb (Cro); Valletta (Mal) v Artmedia Bratislava (Slovakia); Dinamo Tbilisi (Geo) v NSI Runavik (Faroe Isl); Santa Coloma (And) v FBK Kaunas (Lit); Murata (San Mar) v IFK Gothenburg (Swe); Llanelli v Ventspils (Lat); Anorthosis Famugusta (Cyp) v Pyunik (Arm); Inter Baku (Azer) v Rabotnicki (Mac); Tampere Utd (Fin) v Buducnost Podgorica (Mon); F91 Dudelange (Lux) v Domzale (Slo); Dinamo Tirana (Alb) v Modrica (Bos Her); Aktobe (Kaz) v Sheriff (Mol); Drogheda Utd v Levadia Tallinn (Est); BATE (Bela) v Valur Reykjavik (Ice).
SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND:
(First-leg ties to be played July 29/30th; second legs on August 5/6th).
Rangers v Santa Coloma-Kaunas winner (first qualifying round); Brann (Nor) v Llanelli-Ventspils winner; Inter Baku-Rabotnicki winner v Partizan Belgrade (Ser); Tampere Utd-Buducnost Podgorica winner v Artmedia-Valletta winner; Anorthosis Famugusta-Pyunik winner v Rapid Vienna (Aust); F91 Dudelange-Domzale winner v Dinamo Zagreb-Linfield winner; Panathinaikos (Gre) v Dinamo Tbilisi-NSI Runavik winner; Murata-IFK Goteborg winner v FC Basel (Swi); Aktobe-Sheriff winner v Sparta Prague (Czech Rep); Drogheda Utd-Levadia Tallinn winner v Dinamo Kiev (Ukr); Anderlecht (Bel) v BATE-Valur Reykjavik winner; Beitar Jerusalem (Isr) v Wisla Krakow (Pol); Fenerbahce (Tur) v MTK Budapest (Hungary); Aalborg (Den) v Dinamo Tirana-Modrica winner.
