After four days of preparation and minimal relaxation, the Road to Rio resumes on Tuesday with an overloaded fixture list of European World Cup qualifiers.
Here are five matches to keep an eye on.
Tuesday programming alert: Watch Armenia v Czech Republic (on Sportsnet World, 11:30am ET), Azerbijan v Portugal (on Sportsnet, 12:30pm ET), Montenegro v England (on Sportsnet, 3pm ET), France v Spain (on Sportsnet ONE, 3pm ET) and Netherlands v Romania (on Sportsnet World, 3pm ET).
Tuesday programming alert: Watch four UEFA World Cup qualifying games exclusively on Sportsnet World Online: Scotland v Serbia (3:30pm ET), Israel v Northern Ireland (3:45pm ET), Kazakhstan v Germany (3:45pm ET) and Italy v Malta (3:45pm ET).
Montenegro vs. England
Memories of Podgorica are forever engraved in the English psyche, especially Wayne Rooney. The Three Lions narrowly secured qualification to Euro 2012 with a 2-2 draw in Montenegro’s capital, in Fabio Capello’s last match as manager. Despite blowing a two-goal lead, the positive end result was overshadowed by the straight red card suffered by Rooney for his petulant kick to the legs of Montenegro defender Mildrag Dzudovic. That moment of frustration driven madness had significant implications to England’s exit from the tournament that summer in Ukraine. Rooney was suspended for the first two matches of the Euros, and was visibly out of game shape upon his return.
Team captain Steven Gerrard has affirmed calmer heads must prevail this time around, and England has to keep its composure if it wants to escape with three points secured in the hostile environment at Stadion Pod Goricom. The skipper will be back in the lineup on Tuesday, after being given the night off against San Marino.
The defensive dilemma was never a cause for concern in England’s 8-0 thrashing of minnows San Marino last week. However, Montenegro is an entirely different beast — physical in nature and deadly on the counter attack. Manager Branko Brnovic’s side is built to expose England’s weakness at the back, and possess a couple of offensive weapons — Stefan Jovetic and Mirko Vucinic — who are fully capable of causing havoc in and around Joe Hart’s goalmouth.
England cannot afford a loss, but a third successive draw against Montenegro would not be a catastrophic result, having still to play at Wembley on the second-last match-day of the group stage. But Hodgson would want to wrap up qualifying long before those final days.
France vs. Spain
In what is a surprising twist, France could potentially take control of the group and strengthen its aspirations of an automatic place in Brazil with a victory over Spain at the Stade De France.
Spanish manager Vicente Del Bosque watched his side drop two crucial points last week after being held to a shocking 1-1 draw in Gijon by Finland, who sit 87th in the FIFA rankings. The defending world champions are left with the very real prospect of having to settle for second place in the group — a loss on Tuesday would see them five points behind France, who also hold the tie-breaker with three games remaining.
No one would have envisioned mighty Spain having to face the unthinkable task of a playoff battle to earn the right to defend their crown. The intimidation factor has all but disappeared, though the game-plan remains untouched. Spain’s tiki-taka brand continues to dominate possession, but it’s become evident that opponents have figured out how to counteract this once impenetrable method of play. The cloak of invincibility has vanished.
Jordi Alba was added to the injury list after suffering a leg injury on Friday. Del Bosque is also without Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol. France hold the edge in the air, thanks to the presence of Olivier Giroud, and with Franck Ribery causing havoc down the flanks, a couple of obvious holes can be easily exploited. Good news for Spain is that both Xabi Alonso and Xavi are expected to be back in the starting lineup, which should ease some of the tension.
The Spaniards won 2-0 in their last visit to France’s national stadium for a friendly two years ago, and it’s been almost seven years since Les Bleus last tasted victory in this fixture, a 3-1 win in the second round of the 2006 World Cup.
Wales vs. Croatia
Another comeback victory against Scotland has revived Wales’ aspirations of a top-two finish, though it’s still a long shot at best. Should Chris Coleman’s side fail to collect maximum points at the Liberty Stadium, their fate will be inevitably sealed.
Croatia also comes to this fixture with added confidence following a monumental victory over rivals Serbia. Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic stole the show in Zagreb, as did Ivica Olic. The trio were the driving force in what was a convincing performance by the hosts, and will look to produce a similar showing in Swansea.
Gareth Bale only managed to play 45 minutes on Friday in a 2-1 win over Scotland, subbing out at the start of the second half due to illness and a nagging ankle injury. His presence will be sorely missed should Coleman not risk his health. Wales will also be without the services of Aaron Ramsey, after the midfielder was issued a straight red card in the dying moments of the match. Both are huge losses for the hosts in what is a do-or-die scenario.
The reverse fixture was won by Croatia 2-0 late last year, with an identical score line happening in a friendly back in 2010. Tuesday will mark the visitors’ first trip to Wales.
Netherlands vs. Romania
The reverse fixture last October in Romania was entirely one-sided in favour of the visitors. Netherlands brought their opponents back down to earth through a convincing 4-1 victory, ending Romania’s great start to qualifying of three straight wins without a goal conceded.
Louis van Gaal’s team continued their winning ways on Friday with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Estonia at the Amsterdam Arena. Netherlands are a perfect five for five at the half-way point of qualifying, though many expected a much more lop-sided result against one of the group’s lesser teams. The Dutch were caught out twice on the counter attack at pivotal moments by a largely inferior side — an opponent with more quality would have capitalized on those opportunities.
Romania is tied with Hungary for second, five points behind the Dutch. A win in Amsterdam would blow the group wide open, and make it a three-horse race. It’s easier said than done, but the Romanians have proven their character in away matches with an undefeated record thus far, most recently, twice equalizing in Budapest on Friday.
Wesley Sneijder has left the squad due to a groin injury suffered in the first half against Estonia. However, the depth in midfield should be capable of picking up the slack.
Turkey vs. Hungary
Hungary blew a tremendous opportunity to keep pace with group leaders Netherlands on Friday, and despite holding two separate leads against Romania inside an empty Ferenc Puskas Stadium, the match ended 2-2. FIFA handed down the ban for racist behaviour by Hungarian supporters, and the team ultimately paid the price. The power of the twelfth-man cannot be understated, especially in international matches where atmosphere plays a significant role.
Turkey had had a horrendous first half performance in qualifying, losing all three matches to the teams ahead of them in the group, and only managing wins against Estonia and Andorra. Simply put, this is not good enough from a team of their stature in international football. Having lost 3-1 in Budapest, anything short of a victory would be severely damaging.
Istanbul is famously known to be an uncomfortable environment for its guests. The Sukru Saracoglu Stadium will be at capacity and provide the backdrop for this pivotal match for the home side. Hungary is winless without a goal scored in their last two visits to Turkey.