So there you have it, short and very sweet. Some intriguing match-ups there, notably England v Scotland, an Iberian derby in the same group, and some mighty tussles between Germany and Sweden and Holland and Norway.
There’s just enough time left for Ms Kuip to introduce the official match ball for the tournament. She holds it aloft and enthuses: “I think it looks promising.” And so say all of us. Bye!
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Group D: England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal.
Group C: France, Iceland, Austria, Switzerland.
Group B: Germany, Sweden, Italy, Russia.
The tournament will start with the hosts taking on Norway, runners-up last time!
Group A: Holland, Norway Denmark, Belgium
England and Scotland will duel in the opening match of Group D!
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Group A: Germany, Italy and Russia.
Group C: France, Austria, Iceland,
Austria, one of the first-timers in the tournament, join France in Group C. Which means England get Portugal, the last time to qualify, thanks to a playoff victory over Romania.
Russia join Germany in Group B.
Holland have been joined in Group A by their friends and neighbours, Belgium.
Next come France and then England. The Lionesses will be in Group D.
First out are ... Germany. That’s ominous. They go straight into Group B. Maybe there’s hope, after all?
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Here it comes ...
There are unconfirmed rumours that the draw will start soon...
Look! It’s the new Uefa president, Slovenian ex-lawyer Aleksander Cerefin! He’s sure to have something interesting to say ...
Well, I listened attentively and he said he’s fully committed to women’s football and expects Holland to be good hosts. He could have just tweeted that.
We are now being treated to sustained coverage of a map of Holland, with musical accompaniment. That should help us to remember where Enschede is.
Kuip has said her piece for now, so it’s time for Michael van Praag of the Dutch Football Federation to give a speech. He’s wearing a sombre suit with an audacious orange tie and talks while standing behind a lectern, presumably so as not to flaunt his pins. What he said was inconsequential.
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The ceremony begins with an encouraging lack of fanfare. The presenter, Diana Kuip, takes to the stage and welcomes the guests, including the representatives of the five tournament debutants. And that’s it, apart from the obligatory video montage with cinematic soundtrack.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our coverage of lots of people gathered around pot in Holland. Sorry, that should read pots, because what we’re talking about, of course, is today’s draw in Rotterdam for next summer’s Euro 2017 tournament. That will also be held in Holland - and won by Germany. Or will it? Well, yes to the first bit unless perhaps Dutch organisers make a freakish mess of the draw we’re about to cover (come on, think of the hits!), but let’s not get ahead of ourselves about the eventual champions just because Germany are the holders, have won eight previous editions of this tournament, including every one since 1995, and qualified for the latest one without even conceding a goal.
France didn’t concede a goal in qualifying either and sooner or later they’re going to kick their annoying habit of outplaying opponents in quarter-finals only to lose. And then there’s England (goals conceded in qualifying: one), who confirmed that they are a force on the rise by finishing third in last year’s World Cup, giving Germany what for in the third-place playoff, to boot. And Holland have Viviane Miedema and you can never underestimate Norway, should no longer worry about overestimating Sweden and best watch out for steadily improving countries such as Spain and Switzerland. The teams in Pots 3 and 4 are very unlikely to make the final but the likes of Scotland will be eager to demonstrate their own improvement and add to their experience by making life difficult for more vaunted sides. England and Scotland’s men meet at Wembley this week but that’s jut a qualifier: today’s draw could pit the countries’ women against each other in the finals.
Here’s the composition of the pots:
Pot 1
Holland, Germany, France, England
Pot 2
Norway, Sweden, Spain Switzerland
Pot 3
Italy, Iceland, Scotland, Denmark
Pot 4
Austria, Belgium, Russia, Portugal
The draw is scheduled to start at 4.30pm UK time, which could mean anything in Uefa time.
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