Preview: England v Mexico
It’s difficult to know what represents the biggest problem for England ahead of tonight’s friendly with Mexico at Wembley.
Fabio Capello looks set to experiment with his side, with none of the five players in his squad who featured in last week’s FA Cup final at the national stadium considered for selection, and rumours circulating that the England boss could be set to switch to a 3-5-2 formation. Chief amongst his worries though, should be the state of the Wembley playing surface.
“The England players have got to be careful,” says Gary Taylor-Fletcher, who scored Blackpool’s second equaliser in their thrilling 3-2 playoff win over Cardiff City on Saturday that clinched promotion to the Premier League for the Tangerines.
Taylor-Fletcher limped off early in the second half, and blames the pitch for his ankle injury.
“I wore three pairs of boots on Saturday and in all of them I was either slipping over or getting caught in the turf. Five minutes into the second half the studs got caught in the ground, I went over on it [his ankle] and that was the end of it. It was the fault of the ground. I am another victim of the famous Wembley pitch.”
Capello will be praying that none of his key players become the latest victims of that pitch tonight with England’s first World Cup match against the USA just 19 days away.
Captain Rio Ferdinand has echoed the call of his predecessor John Terry – who last week called the FA Cup final pitch “the worst I’ve played on all year” – for the venue to be used solely for football matches, as the constant laying and re-laying of the surface allows little time for it to bed down and take root in the ground. The enormous cost of the stadium makes that possibility an extremely unlikely, not to mention embarrassing, one for the FA to even consider though.
So they’re stuck with it, and England enter battle tonight against a Mexico side who pitch up with no little quality in their ranks.
Boss Javier Aguirre can boast a squad full of exciting attacking talents, including Arsenal’s Carlos Vela, Deportivo’s Andrés Guardado and the CD Guadalajara striker Javier Hernández, who will join Manchester United in the summer.
In Group A along with South Africa, France and Uruguay, the Mexicans will kick off the tournament against the hosts on June 11th, and promise to give an unfamiliar England a good test tonight, whatever the playing surface is like.
One or both of returning defenders Jamie Carragher and Ledley King will play, with the former expecting a mixed reaction from supporters after his decision to return to the national fold following three years of self-imposed exile.
“Better players than me have been booed by supporters,” said the Liverpool vice-captain.
“If it happens, I’ll deal with it. I won’t have a problem with it because I know that if Liverpool had a player that left the club and came back three years later there would be some fans that wouldn’t be happy.”
He could start at right back, and while the 32-year-old looks assured of his place on the plane to South Africa, tonight promises to be an important one for several players whose summer travel plans aren’t as certain.
Adam Johnson, Leighton Baines, Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone and Stephen Warnock are all amongst those who’ll be looking to take their chance tonight, but a hamstring injury has ruled Darren Bent out, meaning his inclusion in the final squad is now in serious doubt.
The belief remains that Capello has already settled on his final 23, but this is the perfect chance for some to make a late case for inclusion. To do that, they’ll have to perform on a surface that has been criticised by many, but could yet hold the key to England’s World Cup chances.
If they can play well on this pitch, then they’ll be ready for whatever South Africa has to throw at them.
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