Pots Set For Euro 2012 Draw

HAMBURG, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 15: Miroslav Klose (R) of Germany celebrates the second goal with Thomas Mueller (L) during the International Friendly match between Germany and Netherlands at Imtech Arena on November 15, 2011 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Bongarts/Getty Images)

The pots have been set for the Euro 2012 draw, and there are some incredibly strong and weak group possibilities. The draw takes place this December in Kiev.

Yesterday's playoff ties set the field for this summer's Euro 2012 finals, the pots have been set for the draw that will determine the groups. Spain and the Netherlands are in Pot 1 as the top ranked teams in Europe, while Ukraine and Poland are in Pot 1 as hosts of the tournament.

By the way, does anyone else find this insane? The fact that the hosts are automatically in the first pot? It's understandable that UEFA wants to give a bit of a leg up to the football associations and fans whose financial contributions have made the event possible. It didn't have a serious negative effect on Euro 2008 when Switzerland and Austria were duel hosts, but we could still end up with a bit of a sticky situation. First of all, here are the pots.

Pot 1: Spain, Holland, Poland, Ukraine

Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia

Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

This sets up a possible absolutely insane 'group of death' of Spain, Germany, Portugal and France. We could also end up with an absurdly weak 'group of life' like Poland, Russia, Sweden and Ireland. This would, of course, be avoided if the hosts were not automatically top seeds. Poland has already been allocated to Group A, while Ukraine has already been allocated to Group D.

The draw for Euro 2012 will take place on December 2 in Kiev, Ukraine at 7 pm local time, 5 pm GMT and 12 pm ET.