Ibrahim Afellay and Robin Van Persie hog the headlines as Holland hit Northern Ireland for six. Poland hammer Andorra 4-0 and return their fifth straight clean sheet, England scramble to their second 1-0 win under Roy Hodgson, Denmark see off Australia, while Croatia and Portugal fail to impress in their final friendlies prior next Friday’s kick-off:
England 1 Belgium 0
Roy Hodgson handed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a start on the left, with James Milner on the opposite flank against Belgium. Gary Cahill slotted in alongside John Terry at the back but was subbed off due to a clash of heads with Joe Hart – the Chelsea man is expected to have scans later today, while Hodgson also admitted Terry was subbed off with a tight hamstring. Up front, Danny Welbeck grabbed the only goal of the game, with Ashley Young providing the assist – the latter has now had a hand in both England’s goals under Hodgson, having notched the winner against Norway last weekend. Despite the visitors having most of the possession, England’s resilience kept them at bay and with clean sheets in each of their games under the new manager, are likely to pick up in ownership – if Cahill’s jaw injury proves to be serious, Lescott (priced at 5.5 in the McDonald’s game) could well come into contention as a punt.
England Starting XI: Hart; Johnson, Cahill (Lescott 19) Terry(Jagielka 70) Cole; Milner, Gerrard (Henderson 83), Parker, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Walcott 67); Young (Defoe 67), Welbeck (Rooney 54).
Poland 4 Andorra 0
The co-hosts maintained their strong recent form with a comprehensive win over hapless Andorra yesterday afternoon. Franciszek Smuda fielded what seems to be his first-choice starting XI and Poland were quick out the blocks, with three of their four attack-minded players scoring before half time. Ludovic Obraniak, Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski all netted, with the latter notching from the spot after being brought down in the box – Maciej Rybus and Lukasz Piszczek provided the assists for the first two. Smuda handed some of his fringe players a chance in the second half by making five changes and Artur Sobiech – on for Lewandowski on the hour mark – earned his side another penalty, which centre-half Marcin Wasilewski slotted home. The 4-0 win takes the Poles unbeaten run to six and, with five back-to-back clean sheets, their backline clearly offers solid options to Fantasy managers.
Poland Starting XI: Szczesny; Piszczek (Wojtkowiak 46), Perquis, Wasilewski, Boenisch; Polanski, Murawski (Dudka 59); Blaszczykowski, Obraniak (Mierzejewski 60), Rybus (Wolski 46); Lewandowski (Sobiech 60).
Denmark 2 Australia 0
The Danes chalked up a victory against Australia after a couple of back-to-back losses against Russia and Brazil. Stephan Andersen – who came on for the injured Thomas Sorensen in last weekend’s 3-1 loss against the Brazilians – continued in goal, suggesting he may well be Morten Olsen’s preferred stopper for the opener against Holland next Saturday; at 4.0 in the McDonald’s game he seems to be the cheapest keeper with the likelihood of starts for the tournament. Intriguingly, both Denmark goals came from centre-halves. Daniel Agger opened the scoring from the spot after being brought down in the box and looks to be the first-choice penalty taker, while Andreas Bjelland – on for Simon Kjaer at half-time – slotted home the second after a scramble.
Denmark Starting XI: Andersen; Jacobsen, Agger (Okore 62), Kjaer (Bjelland 46), S Poulson (Wass 74); Zimling, Kvist (J Poulsen 83), Eriksen (Kahlenberg 46); Rommedahl, Bendtner, Krohn-Deli (Mikkelsen 73).
Norway 1 Croatia 1
Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka both missed out for Croatia last night as they stuttered to a draw with Norway. It’s reported that there are concerns over Modric’s fitness, while Corluka wasn’t risked after feeling pain in his back over the last few days. Ivan Strinic and Ivan Perisic continued their starting roles on the left flank for Slaven Bilic’s side and both look decent cut-price options; left-back Strinic is available for 4.0 while Dortmund winger Perisic is 5.0 and looks differential material, with only 1.5% ownership. Up front, Nikica Jelavic and Mario Mandzukic led the line, though it was substitute Eduardo who grabbed the Croatian’s goal, heading home a Darijo Srna cross on 79 minutes. Bilic’s side failed to hold out for victory, however, after conceding in added time to Tarik Elyounoussi – they have now failed to keep a clean sheet in their last three. The game also brought fresh injury concerns, as Ivica Olic – on for Jelavic at half-time – was forced off through injury after just 26 minutes on the pitch.
Croatia Starting XI: Pletikosa; Vida, Simunic, Schildenfeld, Strinic (Pranjic 45); Srna, Rakitic, Dujmovic (Vukojevic 45), Perisic (Krancjar 63); Mandzukic (Eduardo 63), Jelavic (Olic 45, Ilicevic 71).
Holland 6 Northern Ireland 0
Bert Van Marwijk perhaps gave the strongest hint yet of his XI to face Denmark in next Saturday’s opener by fielding the same front four that started against Estonia in midweek. Ibrahim Afellay and Robin Van Persie kept their places on the left and up front respectively, with Dirk Kuyt and Jan Klass Huntelaar afforded roles from the bench, while Jetro Willems got the nod at left-back ahead of Stijn Schaars as the Dutch returned back-to-back clean sheets. Afellay and Van Persie ran riot against a beleaguered Northern Ireland – the former scored twice and provided an assist, while the Arsenal skipper also produced two goals in addition to a pair of assists. Wesley Sneijder also played his part, with a goal and assist contribution, though it is Afellay, at 6.5 in the McDonald’s game, who is likely to see a boost in ownership – while Sneijder and Van Persie are already popular picks, the Barcelona man is currently in just 1.4% of teams thus far.
Holland Starting XI: Stekelenburg; Van der Weil, Vlaar, Heitinga, Willems (Schaars 78); De Jong, Van Bommel (Van der Vaart 57); Robben (Narsingh 82), Sneijder (Kuyt 70), Afellay; Van Persie (Huntelaar 57).
Portugal 1 Turkey 3
Paulo Bento’s side failed to impress in their final friendly, going down 3-1 at home to Turkey. Cristiano Ronaldo provided an assist for Nani to fire home but fluffed his lines later on, missing from the penalty spot as Portugal’s winless run extended to three matches. Ronaldo is owned by over 30% of Fantasy managers but looks hard to justify, given his side’s poor attacking form; Bento’s men have scored just one goal over those three games and have recorded a single victory in their previous six. With an opener against Germany next Saturday and games against Denmark and Holland to follow, the omens don’t look good right now and Bento clearly still has selection issues – he made six changes from the midweek draw with Macedonia, with the likes of Miguel Lopes handed a debut at right-back.
Portugal Starting XI: Patricio (Eduardo 71); Lopes (Quaresma 86), Alves (Costa 70), Pepe, Coentrao; Veloso (Custodio 69), Moutinho, Meireles (Postiga 86); Ronaldo, Almeida (Nelson Oliveira 73), Nani.
