Sáez predicts tight tussle

uefa.com rounds up the immediate reaction to the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw from Groups 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Group 5

Italy are the only UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifiers in the pool against Slovenia, Scotland, Norway, Belarus and Moldova, but coach Giovanni Trapattoni is taking nothing for granted. "We have to be careful especially against Norway and Scotland," he said. Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, confidently declared: "Italy's group after the draw in Frankfurt is one of the easiest."

Italy 'favourites'
Conversely, Slovenia coach Bojan Paršnika said: "Italy are favourites; I hope Slovenia will fight for second place with Scotland, Norway and Belarus." Scottish coach Berti Vogts agreed: "The big favourites in the group are Italy but the other nations - we can beat them." Belarus coach Anatoly Baidachny said: "I think we can give a good game to any of these sides, and we will be hoping to win every game we play."

Group 6

Not only will England take on British rivals Wales and Northern Ireland, they also face regular opponents Poland, as well as Austria and Azerbaijan. England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson said: "I think it is a good draw. Wales will want to beat us at all costs but we are the same."

Janas hope
Polish coach Pawel Janas is quietly optimistic. "We would have preferred to be in a seven-team group as there is more time to recover from setbacks," he said "For Poland, time is on our side as we are improving with every month."

Hughes delight
Welsh manager Mark Hughes admitted: "When the ball came out and we were paired with England I honestly thought 'this is fantastic'. It has been 20 years since England and Wales played. I remember it well because I scored the winning goal!" Austrian coach Hans Krankl also focused on the UK angle. "I am glad that we face three British teams," he said. "I like the atmosphere over there and I always managed good results when I played there."

Group 7

Spain, Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania and San Marino meet in a pool where virtually every side has a decent chance. Spanish coach Iñaki Sáez said: "If you look at the group, there are three teams including Spain that could fight for the top three places." His Belgian counterpart Aimé Anthuenis said: "I do not think we should complain about this draw, but we have to beware the unknown."

Spanish destiny
Serbo-Montenegrin coach Ilija Petkovic was looking to history. "Spain are our destiny, we played against them in qualification for the World Cup in France and in [UEFA] EURO 2000[™]." The former Yugoslavia also pipped Spain in a play-off to reach the last German-staged World Cup in 1974. Bosnian coach Blaz Sliškovic predicted: "Ourselves, Serbia and Montenegro, and Belgium will compete for second place behind favourites Spain."

Group 8

Also unpredictable is the group including Sweden, Croatia, Bulgaria, Iceland, Hungary and Malta. Sweden's joint-coach Lars Lagerbäck said: "We have to be satisfied with this draw. There are five good and evenly balanced teams in the group but I believe that we can finish top." Also happy, Croatian coach Otto Baric said: "I am very satisfied, we have two difficult opponents, but I think we are the best team in the group."

'Very difficult'
Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov, meanwhile, said: "Sweden are a very strong team. We know Croatia from the last European qualifiers, while Iceland and Hungary are also very solid sides." Malta's Carmel Busuttil commented about the draw: "Not a very attractive one at first sight but in my opinion very difficult indeed."