The draw for the 2012 UEFA European Championship, to be held in Poland and Ukraine from 8th June – 1st July next year, has been made in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv this evening. Sixteen nations will contest this competition for the last time before the next tournament, to be held in France in 2016, will see an increase in the number of finals entrants to 24.

Germany became the first nation, along with tournament hosts Ukraine and Poland, to qualify for the 2012 UEFA European Championships last night. Their 6-2 victory over neighbours Austria gave the Nationalmannschaft an unassailable nine point lead at the top of qualifying Group A.

Goals from Miroslav Klose, Mesut Özil (2) and Lukas Podolski along with additional strikes from substitutes André Schürrle and Mario Götze put the cherry on top of the cake for Germany whose defence was breached just twice by Marko Arnautovic and Martin Harnik, both of whom ply their trade in the German Bundesliga with Werder Bremen and VfB Stuttgart respectively.