Fuente: © UEFA (English)
http://www.uefa.com/

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: WOMEN'S EURO draw looms

/noticias.info/ by Paul Saffer
from Nyon

The route to UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ in Finland will become clearer on Wednesday when the qualifying group stage draw is made at 14.00CET in Nyon, with eleven places on offer alongside the hosts in the expanded finals.

Contenders
Holders Germany, fellow 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers Sweden, Norway, Denmark and England, as well as two other UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ contenders in France and Italy enter at this stage along with the rest of the 25 top-ranked nations, aside from Finland, who reached the semi-finals in England last summer and qualify automatically this time. The 25 are joined by the five preliminary round winners, Northern Ireland, Israel, Slovakia, Romania and Wales, in being drawn into six groups of five teams.

Top seeds
One nation from each seeding pot will be placed into each pool, with Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England and France in the top rank based on their coefficients from the last two qualifying campaigns. The draw will be made by UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson and Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA director of professional football.

Qualifying system
Matches will be played between April 2007 and October 2008, with only the six group winners earning automatic places for Finland. The runners-up and the four third-placed teams with the best record against the sides finishing first, second and fourth in their section will meet in five two-legged play-offs in the final week of October 2008 to contest the remaining berths in the following summer's finals.

UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ qualifying draw
Pot A: Germany (holders), Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, France.

Pot B: Russia, Italy, Czech Republic, Iceland, Ukraine, Netherlands.

Pot C: Spain, Scotland, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Hungary.

Pot D: Belgium, Portugal, Belarus, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Greece.

Pot E: Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Israel, Slovakia, Romania, Wales. notas_de_prensa_archivo