ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH, 9 February 2005 — England’s third-choice defense will face a makeshift Dutch attack today in a World Cup qualifying warm-up that has been badly hit by injuries.
Hopes of seeing Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben tangling with Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell at Villa Park have been dashed by a spate of pulled muscles and broken bones.
Not only have injuries laid low Sven-Goran Eriksson’s first-choice central defensive pairing of Ferdinand and Campbell, they have also ruled out his second-choice as well, with John Terry and Ledley King both succumbing to knocks sustained over the weekend.
Add the enforced withdrawal of another reserve, Matthew Upson, plus the long-term absence of Jonathan Woodgate, and Eriksson has little choice but to field utility man Jamie Carragher and fringe player Wes Brown at the heart of his defense. Going forwards, though, life could not be better for England.
Teenager Wayne Rooney and strike partner Michael Owen are in superb form at Manchester United and Real Madrid, while midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have also been scoring freely, taking Chelsea to the top of the Premier League and Liverpool into the Champions League knockout stages.
Manchester City winger Shaun-Wright Phillips, who wrought havoc with champions Arsenal last month, should add a fourth cap and there are debuts in store for Middlesbrough left winger Stewart Downing and Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson.
Eriksson is expected to make half a dozen changes during the game, possibly lining up as a 4-3-3 with Rooney, Owen and Wright-Phillips in attack, before switching to a 4-4-2 with Wright-Phillips dropping back to his more usual role.
The Dutch, coached by former playing great Marco van Basten and turning out in a special black and white anti-racism strip, have the opposite problem to their hosts.
With Robben out for up to two months and both van Nistelrooy and Pierre van Hooijdonk also unavailable, Van Basten is short of striking options. “I know that England are missing several defenders but I will focus on my team,” Van Basten told reporters.”
The only familiar names in the Dutch defense will be Giovanni van Bronckhorst and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
Today is a practice run before World Cup qualifying resumes in late March, when England meet Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan in Group Six and the Dutch play Romania and Armenia in Group One.
The last two meetings between the sides, also in friendlies, were more memorable for some of the goals than the results.
Mark van Bommel scored with a spectacular swerving shot from 35 meters out in a 2-0 victory for the Dutch at White Hart Lane in 2001, while Darius Vassell marked his England debut with an acrobatic bicycle kick in their 1-1 draw in Amsterdam the following year.
Probables:
England: Paul Robinson; Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Wes Brown, Ashley Cole; David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard; Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney
Netherlands: Edwin van der Sar; Jan Kromkamp, Khalid Bouhlarouz, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst; Mark van Bommel, Denny Landzaat, Rafael van der Vaart; Romeo Castelen, Roy Makaay, Dirk Kuijt.
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden).
Ballack Out of Key
Germany Test
In Duesseldorf, Germany will be without captain Michael Ballack when they begin a crucial run of international matches in 2005 against Argentina today.
The Bayern Munich midfielder was feeling the effects of a cold when he joined up with the squad and coach Juergen Klinsmann ruled him out of the match yesterday.
“We are without our captain, our leader,” Klinsmann said. “It is impossible to replace such an important figure but we can still give Argentina a hard fight.”
Klinsmann wants his side to use 2005 to prove they can mount a serious challenge for a home triumph at next year’s World Cup.
Germany have won five and lost one of their seven matches since Klinsmann took over following a dismal showing at Euro 2004.
Only one of those matches, a draw with Brazil, was against a top class side and Germany have to look back to their 1-0 win over England in 2000 for their last victory against one of world soccer’s leading powers. They will have at least three more chances to set that record straight by the end of the year.
They play Argentina, and possibly Brazil again, in the Confederations Cup and there are further friendly internationals to come against the Netherlands and France.
