FIFA International friendlies: England v Denmark and more

Players, whose place in the England squad for the World Cup in Brazil is not concrete, have the last opportunity to impress Roy Hodgson at Wembley against Denmark on Wedneday night.

England v Denmark
Roy Hogdson was seen at St.Mary’s Stadium last Saturday, as Southampton hosted Liverpool. These two clubs employ nine out of thirty England players, called-up to represent the national team in the match against Denmark with Luke Shaw earning his first call-up. Another five players come from Manchester United, three from Chelsea, two from Everton, Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal. Cardiff, Norwich, West Brom, Celtic and Toronto have one representative in the squad. However, Spurs head coach Tim Sherwood claimed Kyle Walker will not be fit for Wednesday fixture, as well as Danish international Christian Eriksen. Denmark will not take part in the World Cup having been the lowest-rated group runner-up during qualification campaign.

England’s remaining friendlies against Peru, Ecuador and Honduras come in May and June after the final provisional 30-man squad will have been named.

South Africa v Brazil
The hosts of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, South Africa and Brazil, meet in Johannesburg. Bafana Bafana, who finished behind Ethiopia in the group and failed to qualify for the tournament, will test the Selecao, who missed the entire qualification campaign as Cup hosts. South Africa leader and Crystal Palace midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi will sit out the friendly match along with Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.
Luiz Felipe Scolari brought the following squad to Joburg:

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (QPR), Jefferson (Botafogo)

Defenders: Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Dante (Bayern Munich), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Rafinha (Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Tottenham), Ramires, Oscar, Willian (all Chelsea)

Strikers: Neymar (Barcelona), Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk), Hulk (Zenit), Fred (Fluminense), Jo (Atletico Mineiro)

The Brazilian specialist claimed ahead of the game:
‘If you are a team like Brazil and you take part in a World Cup, everybody expects you to lift the trophy. We are certainly working towards that aim’.

Spain v Italy
The winners of the last two World Cups face each other in Madrid, at Estadio Vicente Calderon. Diego Costa could make his debut for La Furia Roja after obtaining Spanish citizenship. Manchester United and Chelsea stars Juan Mata and Fernando Torres were left out of the squad, but other Premier League players, such as Santi Cazorla, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Silva, Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo are all in the team.

However, Spain manager Vicente del Bosque highlighted that ‘This is just a squad to play Italy, not for the World Cup’.
Emmanuele Giaccherini from Sunderland was called up to represent Italy.

Other fixtures:
Turkey v Sweden
Romania v Argentina
Ukraine v United States
Austria v Uruguay
Switzerland v Croatia
Germany v Chile
Republic of Ireland v Serbia
Belgium v Cote D’Ivoire
Poland v Scotland
Wales v Iceland
France v Netherlands
Portugal v Cameroon