Internationals / Editor / 05 February 2007 / Leave a Comment

(Wednesday 7.45pm- live on Sky Sports)

While many countries are playing friendlies this week, there is serious business on the agenda for the Republic of Ireland as they face not only a must-win clash, but realistically one they have to win by as many goals as possible.

Steve Staunton's side are well up against it in Group D, trailing joint leaders Germany and the Czech Republic by six points after a disappointing haul of four points from their first four games.

But they do come into this game with a win from their most recent match, and it came against this same opposition back in November when Robbie Keane scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win in front of the Irish fans at Lansdowne Road.

Keane, not a regular starter for Spurs since returning from injury over the Christmas period, will again be among the more popular picks in the first-scorer market. Meanwhile punters playing in the total goals market or in one of the many over/under options, will hope he and the rest of the attacking options in Staunton's squad are in good form.

But other than Keane, the Ireland squad is one of the most inexperienced fielded in recent seasons, with the likes of Shay Given, Gary Breen and the impressive Kevin Doyle all missing and Celtic youngster Aidan McGeady also ruled out by injury.

The win over San Marino last November was one of very few bright spots since Staunton and Sir Bobby Robson took over from Brian Kerr, as it was the first success he had tasted since the stunning friendly win over Sweden on his debut during the Swedes' 2006 World Cup preparations.

But in reality this should be another win for the Republic and punters may well try to concentrate on markets where they can gain for the bigger winning margins. San Marino's recent form reads as bad as you can imagine in international football, reflected by the fact that none of their current squad plays higher than what would be League Two football in England - Andy Selva is probably as close as they have to a star player.

Their four 2007 games have seen four defeats with a goal difference of -28 and not a single goal scored. The 5-0 defeat in Dublin, as it happens, is their second best recent result and they have not scored an international goal in almost two years. The Republic of Ireland clean sheet market could well be busy.

Brazil v Portugal (Tuesday 8.00pm)

Arsenal's Emirates Stadium hosts what could quite possibly the most passionate and exciting friendly of the week, as fierce rivals Brazil and Portugal meet to claim some important bragging rights for all that speak their common language.

Portugal have won only three of the 16 meetings against the Samba Kings, but one of those was the most recent encounter which saw Pauleta and Deco score in a 2-1 win - Ronaldinho, who scored Brazil's goal in that game, misses out on this one because of injury.

It is tough to say how both sides will approach a normal friendly, but this game does have that little more on it because of their history and it is clear that former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is taking it seriously based on the selection of his squad.

'Big Phil' has named all of his big guns for what is likely to be a sell-out at Arsenal's spanking-new stadium, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco and Nuno Gomes all possible starters who could be dangerous in player-related markets, especially the first-scorer, while Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira make the short trip across from Chelsea to figure in a possible back-four.

Brazil coach Dunga, who has three wins out of four since taking over from Carlos Alberto Parreira, has picked a mainly European-based squad and is expecting plenty from Adriano, who has rediscovered his form for Inter Milan this season after being such a disappointment at the World Cup finals.

Portugal themselves are in trouble in Euro 2008 qualifying after a mediocre start, although they are close enough to the likes of Serbia and Poland to take plenty of positives out of this game if they can come up with a decent performance.

England v Spain (Wednesday 8.00pm - live on BBC1)

England coach Steve McClaren will probably field an experimental side, especially if Wayne Rooney is absent, when he looks for a first win in four internationals against the useful, if enigmatic, Spaniards at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The likes of Joey Barton and Jonathan Woodgate could get chances to improve their hopes of a place in the next Euro 2008 squad, along with young defender Micah Richards, impressive on his England debut in Holland at the end of last year.

The return to action of John Terry should help as well, but if Rooney is forced out by the knee injury he suffered in Manchester United's 4-0 demolition of Tottenham at the weekend, Peter Crouch could end up with a new strike-partner or even end up playing up front on his own - all things that must be considered when having a first-scorer bet.

Andy Johnson is in the squad despite still not being at 100% after an ankle injury while Jermain Defoe, the only other forward in the squad, has not been in much form at all for Spurs. Not only does that make Crouch solid in scorer markets, but it makes England vulnerable targets in markets requiring high-scoring.

Spain have named a very strong squad and, unlike England, have a wealth of offensive options if they are in the mood to go out on the attack in what is, after all, a friendly ahead of some vital Euro 2008 qualifiers to come for both sides.

But both McClaren and his Spanish compatriot Luis Aragones are under intense pressure from their own media and, although this game is a friendly, it is not expected to be one of the usual slow-paced, action-free games that can happen when there is nothing on the line.

Spain have a number of players keen to prove themselves, none more than in-form Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres, who is still smarting at his axing from their most recent squad for the friendly against Romania last year.

That game ended in a 1-0 home defeat and made it three reverses in their last four games thanks to qualifying defeats by Sweden and, stunningly, a weakened Northern Ireland side last September. Indeed their only win, also in a friendly, came against the toughest opposition when they saw off the challenge of Argentina.

England also have players playing for their jobs after a run of three games without a win, although there were plenty of positives to come from the 1-1 draw with Holland last year, when they led until four minutes from time.

But it is Euro 2008 results that will concern McClaren more and, with a tough trip to Israel coming up soon, any punters who have backed England at or around the 8.6 they are to win that tournament would at least like to see a positive performance, better than the 1-0 defeat they fell to the last time they met in Madrid at the end of 2004.

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