Having studied the schedule of the 2008 European Championship qualifiers scheduled for September 6, SPORT Today identified the potentially central fights in each of the groups.
GROUP “A”
| Poland - Serbia | 
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The grassroots of the Polish Army stadium in Warsaw will be played exclusively by those who blundered at the recent World Cup - there are few of both teams, as well as the unsinkable referee Graham Poll, taught by fate to accurately count to three. And for the Serbs, and especially for the Poles, this will be the hour of truth. The hosts risk losing the house for the second time in a row (after a sensational starting bagel from the Finns) and finally assuring the newly invited Dutch specialist Leo Benhakker of a bitter tradition: even the legendary Kazimierz Gursky could not get this team to the finals of the European Championships. The Serbs, by the way, now also written out from afar steering. Spaniard Javier Clemente started a quiet, at least, victory over the Azerbaijanis.
GROUP “B”
| France - Italy | 
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The indisputable priority of the day, the poster of which only hints at a remake of the July Match of the Year. In Saint-Denis other, not Berlin, scenery. And the main characters of that drama - Zidane and Materazzi - if they find themselves close by, then it’s very awkward. And the result, whatever it may be, will still not be in line with the annals of the world finals and will be forgotten much earlier than them. On the crest of attention is different. First of all, Roberto Donadoni’s trembling handwriting, which poorly coped with a simple test control in a match with the Lithuanians. And also the phenomenon of Raymond Domenech, who seemed intent on continuing to follow the hypocratic rule “Do no harm”. The only difference was that before it was simple - the great Zizu was using a scalpel. And now it's time to roll up the sleeves to the coach himself.
GROUP “C”
| Bosnia and Herzegovina - Hungary | 
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In a group surprisingly deprived of the draw of the finalists of the recent World Cup, only this match is mysterious by the result. Clearly a temporary leader versus a clearly temporary outsider. However, the very likely home success of the Bosnians, accustomed to leaving the team, Hassan Salihamidzic, can extend the stay of teams in unusual statuses.
GROUP “D”
| Slovakia - Czech Republic | 
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Slovaks play football challenges to the “younger brother” complex less frequently than in hockey. Therefore, the attitude towards the upcoming family derby at the Bratislava “Tegelnoe Field” is special in both countries. Fortunately, the only previous qualifying clash between neighbors turned into an exchange of victories and mutual failure at the 1998 World Cup. Now in the war with zealous Germans and Irish, a repetition of that incident is quite possible, and climbing in a bundle is hardly real. The match in Bratislava can decide which of the brothers, who started the selection triumphantly, take fame in the satellites and continue the tournament in the leaders - side by side with the German team.
GROUP E
| Russia - Croatia | 
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By the way, this is the only match of the day where both opponents start off white. The upcoming Slavic battle for one of the passes to the finals is perceived as a pre-launch given. Something like the inevitable fall of another into the hands of the British. And if so, Guus Hiddink begins, perhaps, with the most important match and the winning debut of the Dutch guru increases in price many times. The Russian team, by the way, knows this price. Too prickling memory lesson start misfire of the previous cycle - in the same home match against the Slovaks. The points lost then were not enough.
GROUP “F”
| North Ireland - Spain | 
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With the obvious difficulty of preferences, we will choose the one from the fights of this company where the Spaniards will play. To the insulting understatement that they left in the stadiums of Germany in the summer, the quite probable significance of the meeting in Belfast is added. The first goal of the Pyrenees on the Windsor Park field, if any, will be the 1000th in the team’s biography. In this, by the way, lies a certain insidiousness of the moment. History knows a lot of cases when pre-anniversary expectations were stretched for more than one game.
GROUP “G”
| Bulgaria - Slovenia | 
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The group, where a sandwich between an obvious favorite (Holland) and an outsider (Luxembourg) got five rivals comparable in strength and chances, from the start, most of all, got out of the part of the world. Bulgarians today seem more interesting than other rivals in their final impulse, which helped them, thanks to the double of Martin Petrov, to snatch a draw on a visit from Romanians on Saturday. And the Slovenes - by the fact that they have not played yet. So, they remain the second (after the Dutch) team, which has not yet lost points.
Sergey NOVIKOV
ALL MATCHES OF THE DAY