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Germany, Netherlands to clash again in tough Euro 2020 qualifying

By The Assam Tribune

DUBLIN, Dec 3: Germany and the Netherlands are to face off again in a tough qualifying group for the UEFA Euro Cup 2020, according to the draw held in Dublin.

The results of the draw pit the two historically-powerful teams against one another just weeks after they clashed in the debut UEFA Nations League, in which Germany fared poorly while the Netherlands snatched a ticket to the semifinals, reports Efe news.

"It's a fairly standard group in terms of difficulty. Ourselves and the Netherlands are the favourites and both should go through," Germany coach Joachim Low said via the team's official Twitter.

The remaining Group C countries are Northern Ireland, Estonia and Belarus.

The president of the German football association, Reinhard Grindel, stressed that "The Netherlands will obviously provide a stern test, but looking at the group, we simply have to qualify for Euro 2020."

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman asserted that the two sides know each other well, having just played against each other, and added that he was content with the rest of the group.

Because of Germany's poor performance in the Nations League, Die Mannschaft fell to "pot 2" in Sunday's draw, from which teams were drawn into the second positions in the ten groups.

Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but was knocked out of this summer's World Cup in the group stage, while the Netherlands failed to qualify.

Spain was drawn in the Euro 2020 Group F of alongside Sweden, Norway, Romania, the Faroe Islands and Malta.

On paper, Spain's main rivals seem to be Sweden and Romania, ranked 14th and 24th by FIFA, respectively.

Defending champion Portugal will compete in Group B, which includes Ukraine, Serbia, Lithuania and Luxemburg.

France, the 2016 Euro runner-up and the 2018 FIFA World Cup champion, will square off against Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Moldavia and Andorra in Group H.

England has a relatively lightweight field in Group A, facing Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo.

The winner and the runner-up of each of the ten groups will qualify automatically for the 2020 Euro, which will be played in 12 European countries between June 12 and July 12. - IANS

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