Euro 2004 Group 7

BBC Sport Online looks at the countries drawn in qualifying Group 7 for Euro 2004.

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Turkey
Coach: Senol Gunes
Having emphatically taken Turkey to their first World Cup finals since 1954, Senol Gunes is hoping for back-to-back qualifying successes.

The former Trabzonspor goalkeeper masterminded a 6-0 aggregate thrashing of Austria in the World Cup play-offs and Turkey's rapid progress in the last decade means they are now among the top seeds for Euro 2004 qualifying.

Group 7 fixtures

2002

Sept 7: Turkey v Slovakia, Liechtenstein v Macedonia

Oct 12: Slovakia v England, Macedona v Turkey

Oct 16: Turkey v Liechtenstein, England v Macedona

2003

Mar 29: Liechtenstein v England, Macedonia v Slovakia

Apr 2: England v Turkey, Slovakia v Liechtenstein

June 7: Slovakia v Turkey, Macedonia v Liechtenstein

June 11: England v Slovakia, Turkey v Macedona

Sept 6: Liechtenstein v Turkey, Macedonia v England

Sept 10: England v Liechtenstein, Slovakia v Macedona

Oct 11: Turkey v England, Liechtenstein v Slovakia

They enjoyed their best major tournament to date when

Hard to beat, with goalkeeper Rüstu Recber and Aston Villa defender Alpay will be crucial to their defence, Turkey also boast one of Europe's deadliest finishers in Parma's Hakan Suker.

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England
Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson
If all goes to plan, by the time Euro 2004 comes round, England's young side should have matured into potential tournament winners under the tutelage of coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

But England's recent performances in qualifying for major tournaments should be enough to dampen any undue enthusiasm.

Though they finished top of a group including Germany to qualify for World Cup 2002, England's points total was the lowest of any of the group leaders.

Likewise in the Euro 2000 qualifers, they needed a favour from Sweden, who beat rivals Poland, before sneaking past Scotland in the play-offs.

However, with the coach instilling confidence and assured tactics, England fans should have a less nervous ride than in the past.

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Slovakia
Coach: Ladislav Jurkemik
Notoriously hard to beat, Slovakia only lost one of their away games in the Euro 2000 qualifiers - and that was a battling 1-0 defeat by Portugal.

But their teak-tough approach is often counteracted by a lack of attacking flair and the coach Ladislav Jurkemic, who replaced Jozef Adamec in December 2001, needs to find a happy balance.

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FYR Macedonia
Coach: Nikola Ilievski
Macedonia would appear to be a team in crisis as Euro 2004 qualifying approaches, with 23 of the squad withdrawing from a January tournament in Bahrain.

Former coach Gjore Jovanovski, not surprisingly, has quit his role and was recently replaced by Nikola Ilievski.

The country have never finished higher than fourth in qualifying competition, although on a more positive note they reached the final of the Under-19 European Championship in 2001.

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Liechtenstein
Coach: Ralf Loose
With a population of 32,000 to choose from, Liechtenstein face an uphill task if they hope to reach the 2004 finals.

Liechtenstein have won just four matches in their history.

And, although a plucky performance contained Germany for most of the match in 2000, the coach Ralf Loose will settle for smaller scalps on the road to Portugal.