Wembley Fixture Important Groundwork for Both Nations

The English FA have found an opponent for England’s first game at the new Wembley stadium worthy of the historic venue.

The Three Lions will play Brazil on June 1st in what promises to be a fitting international premiere for one of the most iconic soccer stadiums in the world.

Though only a friendly, 90,000 mostly English fans will expect the new Wembley to be christened with plenty of goals and a win for the hosts, but the Samba Boys may spoil the party.

Aside from the ceremonial significance of this fixture, the game provides an important prelude to important competitive commitments for both nations.

England have won just one of their last six games, and that was against Andorra. The Three Lions resume their stuttering Euro 2008 qualification in Estonia on June 6th, so this game will provide an important warm-up for Steve McClaren.

For Brazil and coach, Dunga, this match is a prelude to the Copa America in Venezuela starting on June 26th for which his side are defending Champions.

The former Brazilian captain has been in charge since the disappointments of last summer’s World Cup, losing no time in ushering in a new era for the Brazilian national side where the focus is on unity not personality.

Dunga has broken up the ‘Magic Quartet’ of Ronaldinho, Kaka, Adriano and Ronaldo, failing to name the latter two in the squad. Given that the Spanish season will still be running, and that both Ronaldinho and Kaka are opting out of the Copa America because of burn-out, it will not be a surprise if their contribution is minimal.

Nevertheless, Brazil have a seemingly bottomless pit of talent so Wembley is likely to be treated to a display from future stars of the world stage.

England fans definitely won’t see either Gary Neville or Andy Johnson, who are recovering from injury. Wayne Rooney’s contribution might be limited as he is suspended for the game in Estonia, necessitating McClaren to experiment with replacements.

That striker shortage could be filled by Michael Owen who hasn’t pulled on a full England shirt since crawling off during England’s World Cup quarter-final against Portugal.

Owen has completed just two and a half Premiership games for Newcastle since recovering from serious knee ligament damage, but his bad luck is still dogging him as he was concussed halfway through the Magpies final game.

Owen opened the scoring when the sides last met at Wembley, sharing a 1-1 draw, the ninth encounter at the venue. They have of course met more recently, at the 2002 World Cup, when Owen also opened the scoring, though Brazil won 2-1 on the way to lifting the trophy.

Five years may have passed since that game, but the wounds are still fresh, and England fans will expect revenge - may get it with Brazil likely to be significantly less than full strength.

The Pick :

England 2-1 Brazil

PERCENTAGE ESTIMATE :

England 50% - Draw 25% - Brazil 25%

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

England at Wembley again - wouldn't a home win over BRAZIL seem fitting - even if it is just a friendly ...

(Let's just hope McClaren doesn't screw it all up 5 days later against Estonia ...)