UEFA Cup hopefuls await draw

Twenty-four book place
Last night 24 teams joined Tuesday night winners FC Levadia Tallinn in booking their place in the next round. A further 39 clubs are entering at the second qualifying round stage.

Vaduz delight
Among the sides in the hat are FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein, who last night won a European tie for the first time at the eleventh attempt with a 4-2 aggregate triumph against Longford Town FC.

Illustrious names
Other clubs to look out for are Serbo-Montenegrins FK Partizan, who reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League last season; 1981 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winners FC Dinamo Tbilisi from Georgia, and Romania's former European champions, FC Steaua Bucuresti, who apppointed a new coach in former Italy international goalkeeper Walter Zenga on Thursday.

Draw procedure
For the purposes of the draw, the 64 participating clubs have been divided into three geographical subdivisions (Northern, Central-East and Southern-Mediterranean), each containing two groups. In each group half of the sides are seeded and half are unseeded. These seedings have been determined in accordance with the club rankings established at the beginning of the season. In each case, the draw will pit a seeded team against a non-seeded one.

Prize on offer
For the 32 survivors of the second qualifying round, the prize will be a place in the first round proper, where 32 other clubs lie in wait, including big names such as S.S. Lazio, Parma AC, Newcastle United FC, Sporting Clube de Portugal, AJ Auxerre, VfB Stuttgart and Real Zaragoza. After the first round, the UEFA Cup will move into its first ever group stage.

Second qualifying round draw:
Northern - Group 1

Northern - Group 2

Central-East - Group 1

Central-East - Group 2

Southern-Mediterranean - Group 1

Southern-Mediterranean - Group 2