The Dutch favourites to win Group E
Sweden and the Netherlands will battle for first place in Group E of the 2012 European Championship qualifiers.
Hungary and Finland could make fringe challenges for second place, while little can be expected from the remaining two teams, San Marino and Moldova.
The winner of the group and the best runner-up out of the nine groups gain direct qualification to the tournament alongside hosts Poland and Ukraine.
The remaining eight runners-up will enter play-offs for the last four places in the tournament.
van Marwijk leads the Netherlands
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk has been entrusted to lead the Dutch team to the 2012 tournament following his team's second place finish in this year's World Cup.
With goalkeeper Sander Boschker and defenders Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Andre Ooijer retired from international football, van Marwijk will likely introduce some new names to his team over the course of the qualifiers.
CF Valencia's Hedwiges Maduro and FC Twente's Theo Janssen are two new players being introduced in midfield, while Jeremain Lens of PSV Eindhoven replaces the injured Arjen Robben for the first two matches against San Marino and Finland.
With attacking midfield stars Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart at his disposal, as well as holding midfielders Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel, the Netherlands squad is superior in the group.
Sweden the runner-up?
The only likely challenge for first place will come from Sweden, whose new manager Erik Hamren has been set the task of building on a new generation of players.
Some more experienced names remain in the squad, most notably AC Milan's recent signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who returned to the national team after a 9-month hiatus in August. The striker will captain Hamren's team.
Switching to the fashionable 4-2-3-1 formation, Ibrahimovic will play as lone forward with PSV's celebrated playmaker Ola Toivonen or Bolton Wanderers' Johan Elmander just behind him.
Established pair Olof Mellberg and Daniel Majstorovic will continue in central defence, while Olympique Lyonnais' Kim Kallstrom will do his best to keep hold of the defensive midfield position.
Sweden open their campaign at home against Hungary on 3 September.
Hungary and Finland hopeful
The Hungarians, led by Sandor Egervari, have not qualified for the European Championships since 1972. In that year, Hungary finished fourth in the tournament.
Led by PSV's left winger Balazs Dzsuzsak, Hungary will look to upset the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, especially when playing at home, where they held Russia to a 1-1 draw in a friendly earlier this year.
Bayer Leverkursen defender Sami Hyypia will captain an experienced Finish team in the qualifiers.
39-year-old Jari Litmanen and and TPS striker Jonatan Johansson are among the other experienced players desperate for their country to enter its first international tournament.
With the talented likes of Russian-born Alexei Eremenko and Mikael Forsell in the squad, Finland will likely challenge Sweden for second place in the group.
The Moldovan national team has managed to defeat Kazakhstan and draw Georgia and Azerbaijan in friendlies this year, but no great feats should be expected during these qualifiers.
San Marino's only international victory came against Liechtenstein in 2004. The small nation will be lucky to salvage a point from any of the qualifying games ahead.
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