Meanwhile in Leverkusen, Germany and Japan have a chance to find out where they stand when they lock horns in a friendly match on Tuesday.
MANCHESTER: England face their first test of life after Wayne Rooney when manager Sven-Goran Eriksson pits his World Cup starting line-up against Hungary at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
After watching his ‘B’ team crash to a disappointing defeat against Belarus last week, Eriksson will be looking for a more convincing outing from his senior players as the final countdown to Germany begins in earnest. With Manchester United star Rooney injured and unlikely to be available for any of England’s first phase matches, Peter Crouch will partner Michael Owen in Eriksson’s preferred 4-4-2 line-up.
After Tuesday’s friendly England face a further match against Jamaica on Saturday, also at Old Trafford, before heading to Germany on June 5. Eriksson has vowed to start both this week’s games with the team he expects to use in the World Cup opener against Paraguay on June 10. This means his trusted midfield quartet of Beckham on the right, Joe Cole on the left with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the centre.
Meanwhile in Leverkusen, Germany and Japan have a chance to find out where they stand when they lock horns in a friendly match on Tuesday. The hosts crushed minnows Luxembourg 7-0 on Saturday to boost confidence but are likely to face a much stiffer test of their credentials against Asian champions Japan.
Germany open the World Cup on June 9 against Costa Rica in Munich and have just two friendlies — against Japan and then Colombia on June 2 — to galvanise team spirit. “The players need to carry out the tactics we have been practising in training,” Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “We want to get the ball forward quickly and need to start doing this.”
Not much is expected of Japan, quarter-finalists at the last World Cup, but their Brazilian coach Zico has set a semi-final spot as the target and hopes to find out how far his team have progressed.
“We have come here to win,” explained Zico. “This is a hard test for us. But at least we will know where we are after the game.”
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