Per the FIFA rankings, Fernando Torres and Spain is in Wednesday's toughest match. (Photo: Newscom)
There are sixteen Wednesday friendlies featuring World Cup qualified teams.
The glut of matches may make it hard to choose and decipher, but if we look at them in terms of the teams’ FIFA World Ranking, it helps to sort the big matches from there merely interesting.
Here are those sixteen friendlies arranged in (trying to think of a way to gratefully put this) descending order of combine FIFA rank.
| Rank Rating | Match-Up |
|---|---|
| 190 |
South Africa (81) versus Namibia (109)First National Bank Stadium – Johannesburg OK – not the best start to this part of the article. |
| 132 |
Slovenia (33) versus Qatar (89)Ljudski vrt – Maribor It’s hard enough to get excited about a Slovenia side that plays a very accountable (euphemism) style, but when they’re playing Qatar, it’s difficult to muster and feeling about this match. Slovenia’s style makes for a very entertaining match which opposed by a stronger side (for example, Russia). Against Qatar, the drama of the Slovenes as underdogs evaporates. |
| 103 |
Greece (12) versus Senegal (91)Stadio Georgios – Pireaus What’s more difficult to believe: Greece as the 12th best team in the world or Senegal as the 91st? The Greece ranking seems far too high, while it can’t be true that Senegal has fallen that far. |
| 96 |
New Zealand (79) versus México (17)Rose Bowl – Pasadena, California One of two relevant matches not taking place in Europe, the Mexican nation team continues their appearance in their second home – the United States. Their national team’s relationship with Soccer United Marketing may have informed this booking, but a Méxican national team with a chance to make a semifinal run would have been better-off scheduling tougher, even if it meant flying a number of players to Europe. |
| 92 |
Portugal (5) versus China PR (87)Estádio Cidade – Coimbra Credit to Portugal for scheduling tough, this being the day’s biggest mismatch. Deco is the big absence of Carlos Queiroz’s men, but against China, there was little to be gained. This match could serve as an opportunity to reintegrate João Moutinho and Pedro Mendes before the World Cup roster is announced. Else, hope nobody gets hurt. |
| 87 |
Austria (61) versus Denmark (26)Ernst-Happel-Stadion – Wien Win, lose or draw, Denmark will continue to fly under the radar after Wednesday’s match with the Austrians, but if Daniel Agger and Nicklas Bendtner can stay healthy – something neither player was for Morten Olsen’s last friendly – Denmark can sneak up on teams three months from now. |
| 76 |
Turkey (42) versus Honduras (34)Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadı – Istanbul Quietly one of the most interesting matches of the day. Honduras is thought to be one of the weaker sides that have qualified for South Africa, but Turkey will be a good barometer. The Euro 2008 and Japan/Korea 2002 semifinals are better than many teams that will be in South Africa, having the misfortune to be in the same UEFA qualifying group as Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina. |
| 71 |
Côte d’Ivoire (22) versus Korea Republic (49)Loftus Road – London Côte d’Ivoire dismissed coach Vahid Halilhodzic this weekend and is expected to announce Guus Hiddink’s hiring at any time. What they can learn from this match given the coaching change is unclear. On the other hand, Korea remains on course, with players like Park Ji-Sung, Lee Chong-Yong, and Ki Sung-Yong creating a formidable Korean midfield. |
| 68 |
Slovakia (36) versus Norway (32)Stadión Pod Dubnom – Zilina Norway is actually the higher rated side, though Slovakia is the World Cup participant. Despite this, Slovakia is the better side, especially with an in-form Marek Hamsik |
| 50 |
Algeria (34) versus Serbia (16)Stade du 5. Juillet 1962 – Algiers Congratulations to Algeria on getting a European team to fly to South Africa during the break, let alone a qualified team. This is an interesting match-up, with Serbia’s strength allowing them to match-up well with an Algeria side which (at times) can be very physical. Serbia will not have to sacrifice their shape to get chances against Algeria – always a plus. Alergia’s relative foul-prone defending is a bad match against Serbia’s set piece prowess. |
| 39 |
Switzerland (18) versus Uruguay (21)AFG Arena – St. Gallen Two styles that should make for a very entertaining match, though each team could be amongst the weakest in South Africa. Uruguay limped in to the World Cup through a playoff they should not have needed. Switzerland came through UEFA with help of a relatively weak qualifying group. |
| 24 |
Italy (4) versus Cameroon (20)Stade Louis II. – Monaco Italy won their UEFA qualifying group though failed to show good form while doing so, but while the Azzurri could use this match to test their first team, Marcello Lippi has indicated he will use the Cameroon match to experiment and assess players on the edge of his squad. For Cameroon, this will be their first time together since their Cup of Nations disappointment. |
| 19 |
England (9) versus Egypt (10)Wembley Stadium – London The African champions come to Wembley with the focus on England’s left back position, but a motivated side that has called-up a stronger squad than their Cup-winning side (with Mohamed Aboutrika back healthy) can reinforce their international credentials with an English scalp. |
| 17 |
Netherlands (3) versus United States (14)Amsterdam ArenA -Amsterdam After this match, the United States will have played each of the world’s top four teams within the last calendar year. For this match, they will be without a number of significant contributors – Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Clint Dempsey and Charlie Davies. Still, United States-supporters have high hopes ahead of their clash with one of the world’s footballing icons. |
| 13 |
Germany (5) versus Argentina (8)Allianz-Arena – München An interesting contrast in style between multiple World Cup winners will be overshadowed by Diego Maradona, with everybody looking on to see if the Albiceleste boss can start to get one of the world’s most talented teams playing better than they did during CONMEBOL qualifying. |
| 8 |
France (7) versus Spain (1)Stade de France – Paris Oh, how these rankings love France, a nation that has not had an elite football team for ten years (the debate over the quality of Germany 2006 can be waged another time). Les Blues’ do not have to prove their World Cup quality to anybody, but a result against Spain would go a long way to proving – even to themselves – that they are still a relevant side. |
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