Denmark’s players will wear black armbands to pay tribute to Richard Moller Nielsen, the team’s coach who pulled off a shocking triumph at Euro 92, following his death last month. PHOTO: AFP
Wedged into a busy period in the club season – 99 days before the World Cup – it is the only international date before the coaches announce their squads for the finals in May.
Teenage full-back Luke Shaw has been excellent in the Premier League for Southampton and the friendly against Denmark at Wembley will be his biggest opportunity before the summer to show England manager Roy Hodgson that he is ready for international football.
Shaw was called up for the first time as Hodgson named a 30-man squad for the game, although he has insisted that he has ‘no eyes on the World Cup’.
“It’s not a definitive squad,” Hodgson said last week. “The fact that someone is on this list does not mean he will be going or will be one of the seven standby players because I reserve the right to change my mind.”
England are preparing for the start of their World Cup campaign against Italy in Manaus, so they will be keeping an eye on the Azzurri’s friendly clash with Spain in Madrid.
Spain’s opening World Cup fixture is a rematch of last one’s final as they face the Netherlands in Salvador, and the Dutch continue their preparations with a heavyweight friendly of their own - away to France.
“I can’t recreate the same context but we will need to maintain the same spirit and motivation,” said France coach Didier Deschamps of what is his team’s first match since the dramatic play-off win against Ukraine in November that took them to the World Cup.
Brazil travel to Johannesburg for SA friendly
World Cup hosts Brazil cross the Atlantic for a meeting with South Africa in Johannesburg, where coach Luiz Felipe Scolari expects a tough test against a side who beat Spain in November, while Germany entertain Chile in Stuttgart with coach Joachim Loew admitting to concerns about the form and fitness of his bigger names.
“On paper, we have a top team, but the reality is a bit different at the moment,” said Loew.
“Several players have been injured for months, while others have struggled with form.”
Elsewhere, Romania host Argentina in Bucharest, while the US face Ukraine in a match that will be held in Cyprus due to the current political tension in Kiev.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2014.
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