The Republic of Ireland were today named among the ten top seeds for the 2004 European Championships.
Mick McCarthy's men were ranked sixth on the basis of results obtained during the current World Cup campaign and the Euro 2000 qualifiers.
The top seed are France, the World and European Champions.
The draw for the 2004 qualifiers takes place in Porto next Friday. The continent's 50 teams will be split into ten groups of five. The winners of each group will qualify directly for the finals, and the ten runners-up will play a two-legged play-off to determine the remaining five qualifiers.
By winning a place in the elite, Ireland will not only avoid France and hosts Portugal but also traditional heavyweights such as Spain, Germany, and Italy, as well as Sweden, Turkey, Romania, Belgium, and the Czech Republic.
Ireland's first qualifying match will be just two months after the end of next summer's World Cup on September 7th or 8th.