Euro 2012 draw delivers second golden opportunity to Fabio Capello

If Fabio Capello had been harbouring doubts about seeing out the rest of his contract after the most turbulent week since he took over as England manager two years ago, yesterday’s qualifying draw for Euro 2012 will have erased them.

The Italian can look forward to leading England in the finals of another tournament after being placed in group G, which could scarcely have been more straightforward had he selected their opponents.

What had threatened to be a nightmarish trawl across several time zones, from Iceland in northwest Europe to Kazakhstan on the borders of China, should resemble a stroll in a local park. Capello got everything he asked for, with England being allotted one of the three groups of five and a trouble-free travel itinerary. A first visit to Montenegro is the farthest England will have to travel, with a short trip down the M4 to Cardiff the highlight of an uninspiring group.

Capello assumed the role of diplomat by claiming that every match will be difficult, but groups A and C look far harder. Bulgaria have never beaten England, Wales’s most recent victory was in 1984 and Switzerland’s in 1981.

“Every game will be really tough,” Capello said. “It will be impossible for us to play even one game relaxed. I was speaking to John Toshack on the plane and he was telling me how Wales are a young team. Their average age is 22.”

Toshack, the Wales coach, is excited about some of the youngsters at his disposal — with Aaron Ramsey, Jack Collison and Joe Ledley the best of a talented generation — but many of his brightest prospects do not get enough game-time at their clubs, with Ramsey a case in point.

“That’s something we are used to,” Toshack said. “We have to hope that when these games come around our lads — and we only have ten in the Premier League and two of them are goalkeepers, [Wayne] Hennessey at Wolves and [Boaz] Myhill at Hull — have a little bit more luck with injuries than we have had in the past and that they are playing at club level.

“It’s difficult to come out of these groups with six or seven players in the Championship, as hard as they try and well as they do. We need youngsters like [David] Edwards at Wolves, Ramsey at Arsenal, Collison at West Ham or [Gareth] Bale at Tottenham to be playing regularly if we’re going to stand a chance.”

Stanimir Stoilov, the Bulgaria coach, provided an accurate assessment of the group. “England are strong favourites and we are all hoping for second place,” he said.