08/02/2010 - Estonia will face defending world champion Italy in the qualifying group for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Faroe Islands, Slovenia, Northern Ireland and Serbia are other opponents of Estonia in Group C according to the UEFA draw which took place in Warsaw last Sunday.
Estonia has never faced Serbia and is yet to try and win against Northern Ireland, Slovenia and Italy. Following the draw Estonian head-coach Tarmo Rüütli had mixed emotions.
“It wasn’t a bad draw for us,” said Rüütli. “Against the Faroes we have high expectations, others are obviouslt strong football countries.”
There are 14 places available alongside the co-hosts for the tournament which runs from 8 June to 1 July 2012.
The road to the finals kicks off in September 2010 through to October 2011 with the nine group winners automatically qualifying for the tournament together with the runner-up with the best overall result. The eight other runners-up will then face play-offs over two legs in November 2011.
Euro 2012 qualifying draw:
GROUP A: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Germany
GROUP B: Andorra, Armenia, Macedonia, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Russia
GROUP C: Faroe Islands, ESTONIA, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Serbia, Italy
GROUP D: Luxembourg, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Romania, France
GROUP E: San Marino, Moldova, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands
GROUP F: Malta, Georgia, LATVIA, Israel, Greece, Croatia
GROUP G: Montenegro, Wales, Bulgaria, Switzerland, England
GROUP H: Iceland, Cyprus, Norway, Denmark, Portugal
GROUP I: Liechtenstein, LITHUANIA, Scotland, Czech Republic, Spain
Estonia’s previous matches against Euro 2012 opponents:
14.04 1993 Italy– Estonia 2:0 (WCQ)
22.09.1993 Estonia – Italy 0:3 (WCQ)
08.09.1994 Estonia – Italy 0:2 (ECQ)
25.03.1995 Italy – Estonia 4:1 (ECQ)
31.03.2004 Estonia – Northern-Ireland 0:1
01.03.2006 Northern-Ireland – Estonia 1:0
03.06.1992 Estonia – Slovenia 1:1
07.04.1993 Slovenia – Estonia 2:0
29.03.1995 Slovenia – Estonia 3:0 (ECQ)
11.06.1995 Estonia – Slovenia 1:3 (ECQ)
07.02.2007 Slovenia – Estonia 1:0
24.02.1996 Estonia – Faroe Islands 2:2
06.08.1997 Estonia – Faroe Islands 0:2
04.06.1998 Estonia – Faroe Islands 5:0 (ECQ)
04.09.1999 Faroe Islands – Estonia 0:2 (ECQ)
04.06.2008 Estonia – Faroe Islands 4:3
