England v Hungary
Football : International Friendly
Wednesday 11 August 2010 - Kickoff 8pm

The match is live on TV

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The World Cup may have finished exactly a month ago but international football is back for another round of friendlies. The timing of these games have not impressed many managers in the Premier League and the Championship with the new season just days away and the 1st round of the Carling Cup scheduled for this same week.

England

England had an absolutely shocking World Cup campaign this year, especially in terms of performances. With only 1 win from 4 games against USA, Algeria, Slovenia and Germany, Fabio Capello has been under ever increasing pressure. It is expected that the fans will deliver some sort of backlash at Wembley on Wednesday night, be it from jeering the home team to not turning up at all as England struggle to sell out.

Further pressure has been heaped on Fabio Capello with the retirements of Paul Robinson and Wes Brown which has led many to question the team spirit within the squad. Michael Carrick was ruled out through injury which frustrated Capello after the midfielder played on Sunday in the Community Shield, and there was the non-event pictures of Ashley Cole seemingly ignoring the offer of a handshake from the manager.

There has been a mini shake up of the squad with more than half of the players that made up the 23 that went to South Africa being left out this time. A few youth players were also called up, although it has been made clear that the starting line up for this game will involve all the players that went to the World Cup.

Possible England Line Up :
Hart, Johnson, Terry, Dawson, Ashley Cole, Barry, Milner, Johnson, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney

Hungary

Hungary will provide fond memories for people of a certain age that may remember their famous 3-6 win at Wembley when a certain Ferenc Puskas helped destroy England. However, the success of that side which almost won the World Cup 1 year later has not been replicated in recent years by the current crop of players, although Sandor Egervari, the new coach, has overseen the U20 team finish 3rd in the World Championships.

This side finished 4th in their qualifying group for the World Cup, behind Denmark, Portugal and Sweden and have once again been placed in a tough Qualifying group for Euro 2012. Hungary have particularly struggled in their recent friendly matches, losing 3 of their last 4 and drawing the other. They were heavily beaten by Germany and Netherlands before the World Cup, losing 6-1 in Amsterdam, although they won on their last trip to the British Isles when beating Northern Ireland 0-2 at Windsor Park in 2008.

As many managers do for international friendlies, this will be a chance for Egervari to have a look at a number of players in his squad as they gear up for the new Qualifying campaign next month. There are a number of players that have played in the Premier League in the squad, most notably Zoltan Gera of Fulham.

Possible Hungary Line Up :
Fulop, Vermes, Juhasz, Vanczak, Laczko, Szelesi, Toth, Gera, Hajnal, Huszti, Priskin

Head to Head

The most famous game between these sides is the one I mentioned above as Hungary became the first team from outside the British Isles to win against England at Wembley Stadium.

The sides have played a more recent friendly when England overcame Hungary 3-1 in preparation for the World Cup in Germany in 2006.

Prediction

Usually friendly games are given attention, but not the great deal of attention that has been placed on this game for England and their manager Fabio Capello. It is hard to envisage the fans giving the home team a lot of sympathy after the World Cup performance so this game will represent a chance for England to apologise for their performances and brighten the future.

Hungary are a side that is looking to the World Cup in 4 years time as the best time to get their younger players through with the experience necessary at this level. They have failed to raise their game for high profile friendlies before the World Cup and are expecting a different England that was shown off to the World in South Africa.

Friendlies are notoriously difficult games to predict due to the number of substitutions made throughout the game. I feel England are going to want to put in a performance here as many of the players reach full match fitness in anticipation of the new football season, and there is this feeling of 'owing' the fans that has resonated in press conferences.

England are plenty short enough for the outright win, so I will back them to win with a bit to spare at odds against.

The Pick :

England 3-1 Hungary

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

ITS ONLY A FRIENDLY SO KEEP STAKES TO A MINIMUM AS THERE IS MUCH BIGGER FISH TO FRY AT THE WEEKEND

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take England -1.5 Asian Handicap