Euro 2012 Qualifying Preview

After some early slip-ups, the heat is on the big teams as the 2012 European Championship qualifiers resume this weekend.

European bigwigs like France, Portugal, Russia and the Czech Republic are all under pressure after several of the more fancied nations slipped on banana peels in the first two rounds of qualifiers.

Armenia will take on Slovakia at home to kick of this round of European Qualifying fixtures on Friday, while Portugal will need to pull up their socks after stumbling in their first two qualifying fixtures, drawing 4-4 with Cyprus and losing 1-0 to Norway in Group H.

Paulo Bento replaced Carlos Queiroz as Portuguese boss after the ex-Manchester United assistant manager was banned for six months because of a dispute over drug testing.

Bento's men will certainly have a tough time against Denmark on Saturday, especially with the Scandinavians beating Portugal in two of their last three encounters.

If missing out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup wasn't bad enough, both Russia and the Czech Republic seem to have found their luck even worse in the European Championship.
Although they recorded a win against minnows Andorra, Russia crashed to a 1-0 home loss to Slovakia, and will certainly not look to play against the Republic of Ireland on such form.
The Czechs, having lost to Lithuania at home previously, will hope to beat the Tartan Army when Scotland visit.

Two-time European winners France began their campaign in Group D poorly, with a 1-0 defeat by Belarus at home.
Coach Laurent Blanc will take comfort though, in a far better showing when they won 2-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and will be confident of a win against Romania on Sunday.
However, the French have not beaten Romania in their last three meetings.
In Group A, the battle between Germany and Turkey for the top spot looks intriguing, with both nations winning all their qualifying matches so far.

On the other hand, World Cup and current European champions Spain will be focused on getting a second win at home against Lithuania, with manager Vicente Del Bosque warning his men that the Lithuanians will be no easy meat.

Italy and Netherlands will want to continue their run of good form when they play Northern Ireland and Moldova, though both managers have to deal with first-team players out due to either injury or self-imposed suspensions, in the case of Nigel de Jong.

In-form Montenegro look good for a third straight win when they entertain Switzerland at home, and Israel welcome Croatia in Group F, though a tad more lightweight with the absence of Yossi Benayoun

espn::