EURO 2004: England were given the worst news possible yesterday concerning the qualification dates for the 2004 European Championships when it was revealed that the last match in their group will be in Turkey next October. Michael Walker reports
Given that the other three teams in the group are Slovakia, Macedonia and Liechtenstein, Turkey v England could well be the group decider. Only one team per group qualifies.
Thousands of English fans on Turkish soil for a potentially crucial match was a situation the Football Association was anxious to avoid. At the original draw in Oporto in January the FA had stressed how it was working with its Turkish counterpart to improve relations, but it was never keen to have this fixture first or last.
Such is the volatility between the fans of clubs from both countries that there has been trouble for Manchester United and Leeds United in recent seasons. Leeds had two fans stabbed to death before a UEFA Cup tie with Galatasaray in Istanbul and the FA understandably wanted this fixture earlier.
However, no compromise could be found, which is why UEFA was required to decide the matter by lottery yesterday, and security, an ongoing topic of discussion between London and Istanbul, will rise up the agenda the closer October 2003 comes.
An alternative way of viewing the fixture is that England will hope to have qualified by then and David Davies, chief executive of the FA, tried to accentuate the positives.
"It is what it is," he said. "We are very relaxed about the way it has come out and we are delighted to have avoided the heat of Istanbul in June." The Turkish Football Federation was also relaxed; it had wanted this to be the last fixture. It has made no decisions yet about venues but in the past has moved decisive games away from Istanbul into Asian Turkey, remote places such as Bursa.
The FA has made no definite plans at this stage either but the home game between the countries next April is likely to be held at Old Trafford to accommodate the large numbers of Turkish fans.
Northern Ireland have been handed the toughest possible start to their qualifying campaign after drawing Spain and Ukraine in their first two games.
They were dealt a further blow when, against their wishes, they were handed a game in June 2003.
Northern Ireland have never won a qualifier in June and from the outset the IFA had been determined to avoid playing in that month and in the last few days they had been frantically faxing their four rivals to get them to agree to their proposals. But their worst fears were realised yesterday when they given a home game against Spain on June 10th/11th.
They travel to Spain for their opening fixture on October 12th/13th before returning home to play Ukraine just a few days later.
Group Six
2002 - Sept 7th/8th: Greece v Spain, Armenia v Ukraine. Oct 12th/13th: Spain v N Ireland, Ukraine v Greece. Oct 15th/16th: Greece v Armenia, N Ireland v Ukraine.
2003 - Mar 29th/30th: Armenia v N Ireland, Ukraine v Spain. Apr 1st/2nd: N Ireland v Greece, Spain v Armenia. Jun 7th/8th: Spain v Greece, Ukraine v Armenia. Jun 10th/11th: N Ireland v Spain, Greece v Ukraine. Sept 6th/7th: Armenia v Greece, Ukraine v N Ireland. Sept 9th/10th: N Ireland v Armenia, Spain v Ukraine Oct 11th/12th: Greece v N Ireland, Armenia v Spain.
Group Seven
2002 - Sept 7th/8th: Turkey v Slovakia, Liechtenstein v Macedonia. Oct 12th/13th: Slovakia v England, Macedonia v Turkey. Oct 15th/16th: Turkey v Liechtenstein, England v Macedonia.
2003 - Mar 29th/30th: Liechtenstein v England, Macedonia v Slovakia. April 1st/2nd: England v Turkey, Slovakia v Liechtenstein. Jun 7th/8th: Slovakia v Turkey, Macedonia v Liechtenstein. Jun 10th/11th: England v Slovakia, Turkey v Macedonia. Sept 6th/7th: Liechtenstein v Turkey, Macedonia v England. Sept 9th/10th: England v Liechtenstein, Slovakia v Macedonia. Oct 11th/12th: Turkey v England, Liechtenstein v Slovakia.
Guardian Service
