Portugal and Denmark aim for Group H win
Portugal and Denmark will go head-to-head for first place in Group H of the 2012 European Championship qualifiers, just as they did during the qualifiers for this year's World Cup.
Portugal are favourites to seal the group victory and thereby qualify directly, while Denmark may be challenged by Norway for second place. Iceland and Cyprus should only pose marginal threats in the group.
Queiroz suspended for Portugal
Carlos Queiroz, who has managed Portugal since 2008, will serve a six-month ban during the autumn for obstructing the Anti-Doping Authority's work during his team's World Cup preparations in May.
The ban means that Queiroz will not be present for Portugal's first round of games in the group. Assistant coach Agostinho Oliveira will handle proceedings during these games.
With Cristiano Ronaldo out with an ankle injury and Deco, Simao Sabrosa and Paulo Ferreira all retired from international football, Oliveira's Portugal team will contain some new faces for spectators to become acquainted with.
Zenit St. Petersburg's Dani, Valencia's Manuel Fernandes and Joao Moutinho of FC Porto are three of the players included in the current squad who did not travel to South Africa.
The European runners-up from 2004 will be eager to improve on this year's disappointing World Cup performance in Poland and Ukraine.
The Olsens reign supreme
During his ten years as national team coach, Denmark's Morten Olsen has seen his team enter one European Championship and two World Cups.
His spell with the national team is the most successful by any professional Denmark manager to date. Despite flirting with the idea of transferring to a club team after his team failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, the 61-year-old is staying put with the national team.
Olsen surprised many by excluding Mainz 05 striker Morten Rasmussen from the current squad and selecting Randers FC's Kasper Lorentzen instead.
Liverpool duo Chistian Poulsen and Daniel Agger will continue to form the defensive backbone of the Danish team alongside Palermo's Simon Kjær.
Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner is suffering from a groin injury that will leave him out of Denmark's first match against Iceland, but he should feature heavily in the forthcoming fixtures.
Norway also has a long-serving Olsen in charge. Egil "Drillo" Olsen is currently on his second stint in charge of the team, having previously served between 1990 and 1998.
Norway's squad holds a lower profile than Denmark's, but Drillo's team will hope to cause some upsets in the group and potentially fight for second place.
Striker John Carew will not feature against Iceland on 3 September due to a groin inury, but Norway will be led by AS Roma's John Arne Riise and Blackburn Rovers' attacking midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen.
Iceland and Cyprus to upset?
Iceland, with a handful of players in the European leagues, may make things difficult for their opponents, particularly in Rejkjavik.
But Olafur Johannesson's team have never entered an international tournament, and their chances are relatively slim this time around as well.
Cyprus managed to bag no less than nine points in the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, defeating Bulgaria and Georgia at home and recording three draws.
Angelos Anastasiadis' team will fancy their chances against Iceland, but cannot expect to pick up many points against Norway, Denmark or Portugal.
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