THIS morning's draw for the 2004 European Championships has set up the intriguing possibility of Blackburn team mates Tugay and David Dunn going head to head.

Sven Goran Eriksson's England have been grouped with Turkey, Slovakia, Macedonia and Liechtenstein in the chase for qualification for the championships to be held in Portugal, following today's draw in Porto.

England were in the second group of seeds for the draw with Truks in the top group.

Tugay is an established international while Dunn is one of the brightest hopes for England's future.

But the draw has handed England a diplomatic and security headache.

Apart from Turkey, their other opponents in Group Seven are all trips into the unknown, with England never having previously played Slovakia, Macedonia or Liechtenstein.

However, when Turkey's name was pulled out by Portugal's most famous footballing legend, Eusebio, painful memories were revived of past clashes between rival supporters.

The worst of these occurred in Istanbul when two Leeds supporters were stabbed just before the club's UEFA Cup tie against Galatasaray in 2000.

With tensions at a peak, there were further clashes between rival fans before Arsenal's UEFA Cup final against Galatasaray in Copenhagen and then at the Euro 2000 finals when they came across each other in Brussels.

Football Association chiefs will make strenuous efforts to ensure there are no further outbreaks of trouble when the two sides meet home and away in these group stages.

However, in every other concern, Eriksson can be reasonably pleased with the draw that England have received.

Another Rovers star, striker Mark Hughes, could hardly have been handed a tougher test in his other role as manager of Wales.

He must plan for games against Italy, Yugoslavia, Finland and Azerbaijan as Wales tries to qualify for a major final for the first time since 1958.

The draw has also put Scotland in the same group as Germany, an enthralling prospect as the Scots are thought to be about to name German legend Bertie Vogts as the successor to Craig Brown.

Scotland were drawn in Group Five and as well as the Germans will face Iceland, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands.

Russia, Switzerland, Georgia and Albania stand in the way of Mick McCarthy's Republic of Ireland as they aim to reach the finals.

Damien Duff and Alan Kelly will hope to be involved as the Irish will be bidding to make it third time lucky having fallen at the play-off stage in each of the last two European Championship campaigns.

As top seeds, Ireland were paired with Albania, who pushed England hard in their recent World Cup qualifying matches, and face a stern test from Russia, previous winners of the competition as the Soviet Union.

Northern Ireland have been handed the daunting task of facing Spain, Ukraine, Greece and Armenia.

Sammy McIlroy's side - down in the fourth group of seeds - must reproduce their World Cup heroics of 1982 if they are to reach the finals of the European Championships in Portugal.

Northern Ireland produced their most famous result with a 1-0 win over hosts Spain in 1982, the goal scored by Burnley striker Billy Hamilton, but face a much harder task if they are to progress when qualifying takes place between September this year and October 2003.

DRAW IN FULL

GROUP 1: France, Slovenia, Israel, Cyprus, Malta GROUP 2: Romania, Denmark, Norway, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg GROUP 3: Czech Republic, Holland, Austria, Belarus, Moldova GROUP 4: Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, San Marino GROUP 5: Germany, Scotland, Iceland, Lithuania, Faroe Islands GROUP 6: Spain, Ukraine, Greece, Northern Ireland, Armenia GROUP 7: Turkey, England, Slovakia, Macedonia, Liechtenstein GROUP 8: Belgium; Croatia; Bulgaria; Estonia; Andorra GROUP 9: Italy, Yugoslavia, Finland,Wales, Azerbaijan GROUP 10: Republic of Ireland, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia, Albania