Wed 6th Feb- International Football Friendlies

Building up to the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament in June and there’s a whole bunch of warm up games going on today.  Unfortunately for England it’s Switzerland who will be looking to warm up and not the other way round.  But it will be interesting to see Fabio Capello’s first game in charge and any slight changes/differences in England’s play (hopefully not the case of same old England).  According to rumours it’s going to be a 4-5-1 formation, Rooney up front by himself and the impressive J. Cole playing in the withdrawn role.  Notice how I have followed Capello and his coaches by referring to the players by their surnames,  gone are the days of using nicknames liked JT and Stevie G!!

Croatia v  Holland- both teams look to be fielding under strength teams due to injury and experimentation.  My free international friendly if you have to bet, betting tip: Get on Croatia to win (2.32 odds currently on Betfair) – although they’ve have yet to win in Split under Billic (drawn 6, lost 1),  Billic will be desperate to get a first win in his home town and against a weakened Dutch team, it might just happen.

Rep of Ireland v Brazil- it’s always difficult not to get into the Samba mood whenever the Brazilians come over to play, with the ROI manager-less after the sacking of Steve Staunton in October it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better for Ireland.  But surely Ireland won’t be a roll over and with Brazil playing away how well will some of the Brazilian players adapt to the colder climate?  Long long shot free betting tip:  Bet on Ireland to win or lay Brazil (4.5 on Betfair)

As you can see the long awaited match between the two football giants Azerbaijan v Tajikistan has been postponed, this unquestionably had to be the highlight of this week’s international fixtures. 

Algeria v Belgium,
Austria v Germany, 19:35
Azerbaijan v Tajikistan POSTPONED
Bolivia v Peru, 23:30
Croatia v Holland, 19:30
Cyprus v Ukraine, 16:00
Czech Republic v Poland, 19:30
England v Switzerland, 20:00
FYR Macedonia v Serbia, 16:00
Georgia v Latvia, 20:00
Greece v Finland, 19:15
Hungary v Slovakia, 16:00
Iceland v Armenia, 16:30
Israel v Romania, 18:45
Italy v Portugal, 19:45
Jamaica v Costa Rica, 23:00
Malta v Belarus, 18:45
Moldova v Kazakhstan, 14:00
Northern Ireland v Bulgaria, 19:45
Rep of Ireland v Brazil, 19:45
Slovenia v Denmark, 19:00
Spain v France, 20:00
Turkey v Sweden, 18:30
Uruguay v Colombia, 23:30