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. Fake Jerseys . - Free agent defensive end Will Smith has signed with the New England Patriots. Replica Jerseys . -- Darrelle Revis says at least 26 teams called after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. https://www.fakejerseys.us.com/. Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. Fake NHL Jerseys . Jones, from Winnipeg, built a 3-0 advantage after three ends by scoring two in the second and one in the third. Chinas skip Bingyu Wang cut that lead to 3-1 in the fourth before Canada added another three in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. Fake Jerseys From China . When the Dallas Mavericks needed to stop a Golden State rally in the fourth quarter, they looked for defensive help from the rookie point guard playing in just his sixth game.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Roenis Elias came through with another positive start to follow up his first complete game. Elias won his second consecutive start, Dustin Ackley drove in three runs, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-4 on Saturday. Elias (5-4), coming off a three-hit shutout over Detroit last Sunday, was chased after giving up a two-run homer in the eighth to Evan Longoria that cut the Mariners lead to 7-4. The left-hander allowed four runs and five hits over 7 2-3 innings. "I felt really good out there," Elias said through an interpreter. "Im doing what Im capable of doing. Im working hard to keep that going." Elias struck out five and walked two. "I really liked what I saw today," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "Probably left him in a little bit too long." Ackley hit a three-run double off Alex Cobb (1-4) during a four-run fifth that put the Mariners ahead 7-2. Willie Bloomquist added an RBI double in the inning. "Thats huge," Ackley said of getting Elias the five-run lead. "At point hes throwing the ball well anyway. To have that kind of insurance definitely helps him." Fernando Rodney, the former Rays closer, pitched the ninth to get his 17th save in his first appearance at Tropicana Field since joining the Mariners as a free agent in February. James Loney homered for the Rays, who had a stopped a 10-game losing streak by beating Seattle 4-0 Friday night. The Rays celebrated the life of senior adviser Don Zimmer before the game. Zimmer died Wednesday night at 83. Joe Torre, Jim Leyland and Tommy Lasorda, along with more than 20 family members were present. "It was very emootional," said McClendon, who played for Zimmer on the 1989 NL East champion Chicago Cubs.dddddddddddd"I thought it was very on." Bloomquist had an RBI single and Endy Chavez hit a sacrifice fly during the fourth. Cole Gillespie hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the second. It was Gillespies first homer since Sept. 28, 2011, while with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Seattle has won five of six. Cobb gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings. The right-hander is 0-3 in four starts since returning from a strained left oblique. "They had some really good at bats working and they just beat us up," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Just not Cobbs day." Loney had a solo shot and Ali Solis drove in a run with a sacrifce bunt as the Rays went ahead 2-1 in the second. NOTES: Ackley had two RBIs in his previous 16 games. ... Seattle 1B Justin Smoak (sore left leg) and OF Michael Saunders (sore right shoulder) were both out of the lineup. Smoak entered as a defensive replacement in the ninth. ... The Rays designated reliever Josh Lueke for assignment and recalled RHP Kirby Yates from Triple-A Durham. Yates entered in the seventh and threw 1 1-3 shutout innings in his big league debut. ... Seattle 2B Robinson Cano singled in the fifth and has a 16-game road hitting streak. ... Rays RHP Jeremy Hellckson (elbow) and C Ryan Hanigan (hamstring) started minor league rehab assignments with Single-A Charlotte. Hellickson gave up two hits in three shutout innings and Hanigan hit a two-run homer against Tampa. ... Seattle RHP Felix Hernandez (8-1) and Tampa Bay RHP Chris Archer (3-3) are Sundays scheduled starters. ' ' '