“It may have seemed as if Ireland’s Euro 2012 dreams had suffered a hammer blow as they were thrown into a opening group featuring Spain, Italy and Croatia, yet the reaction in Dublin has been surprisingly upbeat as the gravity of the task facing Giovanni Trapattoni’s rank outsiders was digested.” ESPN

French fancy their chances
“It goes without saying French football owes a big debt of gratitude to Zinédine Zidane, from his headers to help win the World Cup to his silken contribution to the Euro 2000 success and even to his retribution-filled coup de boule – his ‘head-butt’ – on Marco Materazzi. Zizou added another reason for Les Bleus to be thankful to him when he produced another coup de boule – which could also mean ‘ball trick’, honestly, it works in French! – by drawing a clement Euro 2012 group for his old mate Laurent Blanc.” ESPN