World Cup - Friendly Fire
Brazil and Argentina are amongst the early favourites to hold the World Cup trophy aloft at the Maracanã Stadium on Sunday July 13th but how are some of the main contenders and outsiders shaping up ahead of the big kick-off?
A final set of international friendlies take place in the coming days offering managers a final chance to fine-tune their preparations ahead of flying out to South America. Here’s how a selection of qualifiers are shaping up.
Vicente Del Bosque concludes his World Cup build-up with a friendly against El Salvador in FedEx Field Washington next Sunday, hot on the heels of the Spanish manager’s 23-man squad announcement and a recent 2-0 warm-up victory over Bolivia.
Del Bosque’s decision to leave Manchester City duo Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo at home in preference of injury-plagued Diego Costa and off-form Fernando Torres has attracted plenty of scrutiny.
The Chelsea striker converted a penalty against the Bolivians to mark his return to the international fold following an eleven month absence but questions will be asked of the Spanish coach’s selection policy should either striker (especially Costa who limped out of the Champions League final) succumb to injury in the coming weeks.
Granted, the Spaniards possess enough quality within their ranks to overcome such adversities but the reigning champions will need their strikers firing on all cylinders in a re-run of the 2010 World Cup final against the Dutch at Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador on June 13th.
The one question dominating “La Celeste” and their build-up to World Cup 2014 is will Luis Suarez be fit enough to take part?
A less than stellar performance in their recent 1-0 defeat of a plucky Northern Ireland has done little to appease worried supporters who recognise the importance of the Liverpool striker’s health to Uruguay’s chances of success.
Luckily, the South Americans can turn to Edinson Cavanai and Diego Forlan for inspiration should Suarez suffer a relapse of his recent knee injury having only joined up with the squad two days ago.
It is worth noting that Oscar Tabarez’s side are far from a one-man team with talented wide-men Cristian Rodriguez and Christian Stuani capable of making an impact as well as creative central midfielders Nicolas Lodeiro and Egidio Arevalo Rios.
Montevideo is the venue for Wednesday night’s friendly with Slovenia where Uruguay need a positive result and performance before jetting into Brazil.
The most noteworthy piece of news emanating from the German camp is Joachim Low’s decision to select Lazio’s Miroslav Klose as his solitary out-and-out striker in a final squad of 23.
A wealth of attacking midfielders headlined by Bayern Munich’s Mario Gotze, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus are also on the plane to Brazil but any injury to 36-year old Klose would leave Low playing with a false number nine for the majority of the tournament.
Armenia are the Germans opponents in Mainz on Friday evening following Low’s experimental side’s uninspiring 2-2 draw with Cameroon last Sunday.
The German squad backboned by the cream of Bayern’s and Dortmund’s best players plus a sprinkling of Premier League stars looks in good shape ahead of their Group G opener against Portugal on June 16th.
Roy Hodgson’s World Cup preparations suffered an unexpected setback when England’s first warm weather training session had to be moved indoors on Monday afternoon following torrential thunderstorms at their temporary base in Florida.
Ecuador and Honduras provide England’s opposition for two important friendlies in three days (June 4th and 7th) as Hodgson looks to finalise his starting line-up ahead of their pivotal Group D opener against Italy.
As usual, England expects, but not even the youthful exuberance of Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling mixed with the experienced Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney looks enough to reach the second round.
Italy and Uruguay will be well prepared for England’s 4-3-3 formation so Hodgson may well need to revert to a more defensive 4-2-3-1 setup against Cesare Prandelli and Oscar Tabarez’s sides before going for broke against the Costa Ricans.
The pressure on Argentina’s Alejandro Sabella to deliver at the very least a semi-final berth is intensifying ahead of his side’s Group F opener with Bosnia-Herzegovina in Rio.
Sabella’s decision to omit Juventus’ Carlos Tevez from his final 23-man squad has dominated headlines in the build-up to the tournament. The Argentinean coach can expect a huge backlash should the attacking trio of Messi, Ageuro and Higuain fail to deliver a last-four berth especially considering Tevez’s excellent late-season form in helping Juve claim another scudetto.
Friendlies against Trinidad and Tobago on June 4th and Slovenia on June 7th are likely to be negotiated with the minimum fuss as is Argentina’s opening group containing Iran, Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
As if the pressure building on Sabella wasn’t enough, Diego Simeone and Gerardo Martino are already being mentioned as post-tournament replacements should Argentina fail to make an impact in the latter stages of the tournament.
Follow Ger on Twitter: @germccarthy74
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