Spains Blushes Are Spared And Serbia Smeltz Under Pressure

Another batch of World Cup friendlies fresh out of the oven for you to enjoy this Bank Holiday weekend, right after these messages…

Tournament favourites Spain got their preparations off to a jittery start against some less-than-stellar opposition, winning 3-2 over Saudi Arabia courtesy of a last minute goal from substitute Fernando Llorente. The Euro 2008 winners fielded a borderline full-strength line-up with the recovering Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas on the bench, though neither made an appearance. Their relatively tepid start will undoubtedly be under review by Del Bosque and his coaching team as they move forwards.

La Roja did come away victorious, nonetheless- with the remaining goals scored by David Villa and Xabi Alonso – so have something to build on as their first fixture, against Switzerland, beckons ever closer.

Honduras, one of the teams Spain must face in Group H, began their preparations with a friendly versus Belarus. Putting out a relatively strong side (lacking Premier League stars Wilson Palacios and Maynor Figueroa) the game finished 2-2 with goals coming from Georgie Welcome and, most notably, a superbly taken free kick courtesy of Julion Leon.

Two days previously, the third and final opponent guaranteed to face Spain (Chile) hosted Zambia and boosted their morale with a 3-0 victory; with two goals from substitute Alexis Sánchez and a third coming from midfielder Jorge Valdivia.

Not ones to dwell on the unfortunate loss of captain Michael Ballack and fellow midfielder Christian Traesch, Germany picked themselves up and breezed past Hungary 3-0. We know Phillip Lahm has taken the mantle of captain on in the absence of Ballack, and 5 minutes into the first official friendly (Germany schooled a local amateur under-20 side 24-0 a few days prior to this match) we also learned that Lukas Podolski is now front of the queue for penalty duty – he obliged in scoring.

Germany dominated the game, with Mesut Özil in particular peppering Kiraly’s goalmouth, but the keeper proved level to these attempts and it was left to substitutes Mario Gomez and, with a great turn of a pace, Cacau to sew the match up.

Germany will also have been boosted with the news that Group D rivals Serbia lost 1-0 to one of the World Cup’s least-favoured sides, New Zealand. The All Whites competed with much aplomb and came away victorious for it – Shane Smeltz showing a great level of skill and composure as he turned the Serbian defence before calmy finishing into the left hand corner. Serbian fans needed “calming down” during the action, and will be looking for improved performances in their two remaining friendlies – with hopes that star players Milan Jovanovic and Milos Krasic will be on show next time round too.

Slovakia, one of New Zealand’s opponents in group F, will feel hard done by to have walked away from their friendly against Cameroon with only a draw to their name. Kamil Kopunek opened the scoring with a beauty of a shot from outside the box inside the opening minutes before Eyong Enoh equalised late into the game. Where there will be slight pangs of regret is Stanislav Sestak did get the ball across the line, but it was missed by the officials. If only they had these officials instead…

On Thursday night Denmark continued their World Cup preparations with a friendly against non-qualifiers Senegal, a strong side (lacking first teamers Thomas Sorensen and Nicklas Bendtner who are currently recovering from injury) managed to win the game 2-0 with goals from Christian Poulsen and Tomas Envoldsen. The game has brought one extra worry though, first choice centre-back -and rumoured hot property in the transfer market this summer – Simon Kjaer left the field on a stretcher having picked up a knee injury. He has been named in the final Danish 23 though, coach Morten Olsen is currently crossing his fingers and hoping he will be able to recover in time.

Also on Thursday night Uruguay played their one and only World Cup warm-up match in front of a home crowd against a far-travelling Israel side – they were comfortable 4-1 victors. Diego Forlán opened the scoring, brilliantly bringing the ball down before calmly finishing, Álvaro Pereira stabbed home the second before experienced striker Sebastián Abreu came off the bench and closed in on the Uruguayan goalscoring record with another 2 goals; both coolly taken, but, then again, it’s hard to miss open goals.

Last but not least are two of England’s upcoming World Cup opponents – Algeria and USA. Our African Group C foes fielded a far-from-full-strength XI and were subsequently dispatched 3-0 by the Republic of Ireland, who I’m sure will have been more than happy to lend us (England) a hand by proxy, the nations being the best of friends and all.

The United States meanwhile had a more prosperous rehearsal as they welcomed Turkey to the Lincoln Center (American spelling, bah!) and resultantly beat them 2-1. All five stars rested in the loss against Czech Republic came in to the starting line-up here, and it showed. Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore combined with a fast paced, efficient and slick manner for the first goal and then Clint Dempsey beat his marker before slotting home from 12 yards out.

With games coming thick and fast over the new few days, look out for more to catch up on down the line, as well as some top class in-depth analysis from my colleagues on the groups and teams as the tournament itself looms on the horizon – 12 days! – see you on another day, brother.