England in seedings blow

EURO 2004 SEEDINGS Pot A: France, Portugal, Sweden, Czech Republic Pot B: England, Italy, Germany, Spain Pot C: Holland, Denmark, Croatia, Russia Pot D: Bulgaria, Latvia, Greece, Switzerland

England have missed out on being one of the top seeds for the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal next summer.

Uefa has confirmed the seedings, which are based on qualifying for Euro 2004 and the 2002 World Cup.

As expected, England are among the second group of seedings, along with Italy, Spain and Germany.

The group of top seeds comprises of reigning champions France, hosts Portugal and Sweden and the Czech Republic, the two countries with the best records from the qualifying campaigns.

Holland, who crushed Scotland in the play-offs, are in the third pot, alongside Croatia, Denmark and Russia, who got through at the expense of Wales.

The final qualifiers, and tournament underdogs, complete the list - Bulgaria, Switzerland, Latvia and Greece.

Latvian President Vaira-Vike Freiberga said the result was a "wonderful, unique and dazzling" performance by her "golden boys".

Latvia's Prime Minister Einars Repse added it was perfect timing after the ex-Soviet republic's independence day celebrations on Tuesday.

"This is not only a historic moment for Latvia and European football history, but also a great gift on its birthday of independence," he said. The draw takes place in Lisbon on 30 November.

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