NICE, France -- Two-time defending European champion Spain faces a seemingly comfortable road to defend its title at Euro 2016 after being drawn Sunday with Luxembourg, Macedonia, Belarus, Slovakia and Ukraine for the qualifiers. "Its not as easy a group as it might appear to some. We are facing emerging teams who are young and strong," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said of the Group C draw. "The cold conditions could play a role in the group because many of the trips will be to teams from the east." The Netherlands was drawn in a tougher-looking Group A and faces the Czech Republic, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Iceland and Latvia. "The Dutch are the favourites. Together with them, it will be us, Turkey and Iceland fighting to advance," Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech said. "We have to cope with it if we want to go to France." There will be eight groups of six teams and one of five, each playing home and away. The top two teams from the nine groups qualify, along with the best third-placed side. The eight remaining third-placed sides will contest play-offs with four spots at stake. Host France is the 24th team and automatically qualified. It will play matches in Group I, but no points will be awarded for their matches. UEFA made the change because host nations can struggle to arrange suitable friendlies while others focus on qualification. Germany, the runner-up to Spain at Euro 2008, is in Group D and has potentially awkward matches against the Republic of Ireland and Poland -- led by Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski -- with Gibraltar, Georgia and Scotland also in the group. "The matches against Scotland will be great occasions," Republic of Ireland manager Martin ONeill said. "It looks like a group, Germany apart, where teams might take points off each other." England will be pleased with what looks like a winnable Group E featuring Switzerland, San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia. "Im very satisfied, in particular for the fans. Weve had some quite tough trips to get to in recent years, but theres some good places to visit," England coach Roy Hodgson said. "The name Switzerland always brings a smile to my face because they were four fantastic years (as national team coach)." But Wales bid to qualify might mean going through the playoffs as Group B contains Eden Hazards Belgium and the attacking strength of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is completed by Andorra, Cyprus and Israel. "Im happy, positive," Wales coach Chris Coleman said. "We managed to get a point in Belgium (in World Cup qualifying) and were unlucky at home." Belgium coach Marc Wilmots was happy overall. "I am not going to say it is a beautiful draw, because every match is difficult," Wilmots said. "But I will return home feeling satisfied." Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed out on this years World Cup after Sweden was beaten by Portugal in a thrilling playoff, but the prolific Paris Saint-Germain forward should grace the fields of France in two years time. Sweden and Russia are likely to lead Group G, where Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro and Austria look to be up against it. Italy, runners-up to France in 2000 and Spain in 2012, will be confident of winning Group H, despite facing Croatia, Norway and Bulgaria. The other teams are Malta and Azerbaijan. "Its a very demanding group, we will have to prepare ourselves well," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "Were not facing Belgium or Switzerland but I dont think Croatia is inferior to them. Croatia and Bulgaria are potential group winners." Group F, however, seems to be the most open one and it is hard to call the top two from 2004 champion Greece, Finland, Romania, improving Northern Ireland and Hungary. All of them should take maximum points against perpetual minnow, the Faeroe Islands. Having guided Portugal to the World Cup with a brilliant playoff performance against Sweden -- outshining even Ibrahimovic -- Cristiano Ronaldo will need to find his scoring touch to keep Portugal ahead of Serbia and Denmark in Group I, and trips to Albania and Armenia are sometimes tricky. France completes Group I, although Didier Deschamps team has no bearing on the outcome. "Its pretty good to play a team like Portugal, they will be prestigious matches," Deschamps said. Deion Sanders Jersey . The Philadelphia Eagles acquired running back Darren Sproles from the New Orleans Saints for a fifth-round draft pick on Tuesday. Tony Gonzalez Jersey .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Yout...Falcons-Jersey/. The 22-year-old Spanish midfielder recently signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea, and after spending last season on loan with Valencia in La Liga, Romeu will move to the Bundesliga for the 2014-15 campaign. Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . -- Among the 31 players at the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp, none feels closer to cracking the NHL roster than right winger Aaron Palushaj. Julio Jones Jersey . The thunderous cheers quickly changed to an appreciative chant: "Ma-son! Ma-son! Ma-son! Headed to New York with new life, Mason sure earned this curtain call. VANCOUVER -- John Tortorella has been on his best behaviour since taking over as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. His teams worst performance of the season brought some of the old temper bubbling to the surface Tuesday. "We sucked," Tortorella said after Vancouver dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the lowly Florida Panthers. "It was easily our worst game of the year. We didnt deserve a point." Having already lost four in a row, the Canucks came out flat against an opponent that has already fired a coach and endured a nine-game losing streak this season. And while Tortorella didnt have one of the post-game explosions he made famous during stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers, he was clearly disgusted with the effort, especially in a first period that saw Florida carry the play and take a 1-0 lead. "Its lack of respect and we have no business (showing) a lack of respect to any hockey team," Tortorella continued. "In the situation were in going into tonights game, I just dont know what were thinking as far as how we started the game. "I cant explain it." Jonathan Huberdeau scored the only goal of the shootout, beating Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo with a nice backhand-forehand deke on Floridas first attempt. Chris Higgins came closest to scoring for the Canucks, hitting the post behind Tim Thomas on Vancouvers final shot. Like their coach, the Canucks were at a loss to explain the performance. "Theyre never easy. It doesnt matter who you play," said Luongo, who finished with 34 saves through regulation and overtime. "As soon as you start thinking that, its game over for us. Theres no easy points in this league. Youve got to perform every night, every teams going to give you a challenge. "Especially given the fact that we lost four in a row, I dont understand why we would think it would be easy." Shawn Matthias and Brad Boyes scored in regulation for Florida (6-12-4), which got 27 saves from Thomas and has now won three of its last four. The 39-year-old Thomas, who took last season off to spend time with his family and clear his head, was back at Rogers Arena for the first time since leading the Boston Bruins to a their Game 7 victory over Vancouver in the 2011 Stanley Cup. He signed with a Panthers team in the pre-season that prior to Tuesday had not won a game in Vancouver since 1994. "Thats why hes won before, hes won a Stanley Cup before, hes won a Vezina and thats why," Panthers interim head coach Peter Horachek said of Thomas. "Hes confident (and) hes got a smile on his face when he is doing it. "He gives our guys confidence." Jannek Hansen and Higgins replied for Vancouver (11-8-4), which has just six goals total during its five-game slide. "II dont think anybody played well.dddddddddddd We looked lethargic at times," said Tortorella. "Its disappointing and it starts from the beginning. You need to respect your opponent. We didnt." The Canucks killed off a full two-minute penalty in overtime, with Luongo making a huge pad stop on Huberdeau. Vancouver then poured it on in the final minute of the extra period, but couldnt find a way past Thomas. Playing in just his second game back after a long absence with a lower-body injury, Hansen jumped on a bad clearing attempt and wired a shot past Thomas for his third of the season at 2:35 of the final period to tie snap a 1-1 tie. After the teams exchanged chances, Matthias brought the Panthers back to level terms by ripping his third of the season past Luongo from the slot at 8:34. Down 1-0 after that lacklustre first period, the Canucks came out with some renewed intensity in the second and were rewarded when Higgins beat Thomas through a maze of legs for his seventh goal of the season at 3:26. Thomas, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with Boston back in 2011, then made a big stop on Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows before Daniel Sedin sent a shot just wide. Florida opened the scoring at 3:43 of the first against the NHLs No. 1 penalty killing unit. With Hansen off in the box for goaltender interference, Aleksander Barkovs shot off the post bounced right to Boyes, who beat a down-and-out Luongo for his eighth of the season. Burrows, who has yet to score this season in 11 games, had Vancouvers best chance of the period but he hit the post on a Florida power play with about five minutes to go. "This clunker here, it just makes no sense to me," said Tortorella. "I think a team should be chomping on the bit to get into a win column but it was a total lack of respect. There are no easy games in this game. Its a lesson learned and I hope we do learn from it." Notes: Horachek replaced the fired Kevin Dineen on Nov. 8 ... Canucks forward Dale Weise returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. He took the place of David Booth, who has just one goal and two assists in 13 games this season. ... Former members of the Panthers on the current Canucks roster include Luongo, Booth, Higgins, Mike Santorelli and Jason Garrison. ... Luongo, who was with the Panthers from 2000 to 2006 before being dealt to the Canucks, still ranks first among all-time Florida goaltenders for wins (108), games played (317) and shutouts (26). ... The Canucks continue their six-game homestand on Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. ... The Panthers are in Edmonton to take on the Oilers on Thursday for the third game of their four-game road trip. ... The Canucks and Panthers meet again March 16 in Sunrise, Fla. 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