England will kick off its Euro 2012 qualification campaign with a
home match against Bulgaria on Sept. 3.
The game was announced Thursday at a UEFA draw.
Group G, which contains Fabio Capello's team, was one of four
pools where UEFA was forced to hold a draw to determine the
schedule after the competing soccer associations were unable to
come to an agreement.
The English will travel to Switzerland on Sept. 7 for their
second qualifying match and play neighbor Wales on March 26, 2011.
England's campaign will finish on Oct. 7, 2011, at Montenegro.
The other pools drawn on Thursday were Group F, containing
Israel, Greece and Croatia; Group B, including Russia, Slovakia and
the Republic of Ireland; and Group H, containing Portugal, Norway
and Denmark.
The Portuguese will host Cyprus in their opening match, on
Sept. 3, and visit Denmark on Oct. 11, 2011, the final day of
matches. Ireland opens its campaign at Armenia on Sept. 3 and ends
it at home to Armenia on Oct. 11.
