Euro 2012: Greece in group with Croatia, Israel, Georgia, Malta and Latvia

The national football team of Greece will play against Croatia, Israel, Georgia, Latvia and Malta during the classification matches for the European Championship, which will be held in Poland and Ukraine in 2012.
Not for the first time in the past two decades, hopes of a lucrative home tie against the likes of England, Italy or Spain, failed to materialise as the final act of yesterday’s draw saw Croatia take the one slot reserved for the top seeds in Group F.
There is not one team in Group F Malta haven’t faced in the past and Joe Mifsud, the president of the MFA who attended yesterday’s draw together with national coach John Buttigieg and Ivan Vella, the national teams’ manager, struck an upbeat note.
“Every qualifying group is difficult for Malta,” Dr Mifsud told The Times.
“The teams in our Euro 2012 group are all tough but on the positive side, we obtained some good results against all of them in the past.”
A smile must have crossed Buttigieg’s face when Georgia were drawn in Group F.
Georgia were Malta’s opponents in Buttigieg’s first game in charge last August. A brace by Michael Mifsud ensured a happy debut for the national coach as Malta won 2-0 at the National Stadium.
In 2005, Malta gained a creditable 1-1 draw against Croatia in a home qualifier for the 2006 World Cup.
Greece claimed two victories against Malta in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, 1-0 here and 5-0 in Athens, but in 1991, our team held them to a 1-1 draw.
Malta last played Israel in 2003 in neutral Antalya, drawing 2-2 in their final match of the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.
Like Georgia, Latvia have never met Malta in a competitive match but the last time the two nations met, in the 1998 Rothmans Tournament, Malta prevailed 2-1.