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World Cup flavor French field strong lineup against injury-hit Germans
Updated: Monday February 26, 2001 2:29 PM
LONDON (AP) -- France vs. Germany, Italy vs. Argentina, England vs. Spain. No, the World Cup hasn't arrived yet. But, with 16 months to go until the tournament finals in Japan and South Korea, some of soccer's powerhouse nations are in action in this week's 18 international exhibition games. World Cup qualifying resumes in Europe, too, with Portugal hosting Andorra and Belgium welcoming San Marino on Wednesday. But the biggest teams are in action in friendlies, with England hosting Spain under the guidance for the first time of its foreign coach, Sweden's Sven-Goran Eriksson, and injury-hit Netherlands receiving Turkey. France sends out most of the stars who won both the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship for Tuesday's game against Germany. Although Parma defender Lilian Thuram and Juventus striker David Trezeguet are missing through injury, coach Roger Lemerre can field a hugely talented and experienced squad at the Stade de France against a German team missing five key players through injury. German coach Rudi Voeller has called up three rookies in the absence of Bayer Leverkusen's Jens Nowotny, Bayern Munich's Alexander Zickler, Borussia Dortmund's Joerg Heinlich and Hertha Berlin's Stefan Beinlich and Sebastian Deisler. "France is the best team in the world, they are the standard for everyone right now," Voeller, a former World Cup striker, said. "They have only world class players in the lineup. That's what we are striving for in the not too distant future." French defender Bixente Lizarazu, who plays in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich, was happy to accept being the favorite. "From the Germans' point of view, we are the world champions, we are the European champions, we are the best, full stop," he said. "They respect us." Christian Vieri is back in Italy's squad for the game against Argentina in Turin after being out of action for over a year through injury. But the Inter star faces big competition for a starting place with Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus and Francesco Totti and Marco Delvecchio of league leader AS Roma also on the squad. Giovanni Trapattoni's squad also includes twin brothers Cristian and Damiani Zenoni. With Wembley set to be demolished and rebuilt, England faces Spain at Villa Park, Birmingham, with Eriksson in charge for the first time. The result probably isn't as important as the performance, with England facing two vital World Cup games against Albania and Finland next month. Eriksson likely will field several Manchester United stars, including those on the lineup that crushed Arsenal 6-1 on Sunday. David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Wes Brown, Teddy Sheringham, Gary and Philip Neville, Nicky Butt and Andy Cole are all in the squad along with five of the Liverpool team that won the League Cup on Sunday. Spain could well call up the Spanish league's top scorer, Javier Moreno of Alaves, for his debut. The 25-year-old striker has netted 17 times this season and his goals have helped his modest club reach the quarterfinal of the UEFA Cup at the first attempt. "It's the dream of all my life," Moreno said. "When I was a child I always thought this moment would come." The Dutch receive the Turks without suspended Chelsea striker Floyd Hasselbaink, who was sent off against Spain in November, and several key player missing through injury, including Barcelona star Boudewijn Zenden, Glasgow Rangers' Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Mols and Ronald de Boer and Chelsea's Mario Melchiot and Winston Bogarde. Portuguese stars Nuno Gomes, Abel Xavier and Paulo Bento return to the lineup for World Cup action after being suspended for manhandling a referee at the Euro 2000 semifinals last July. Top of Group Two, the Portuguese expect a high-scoring victory over Andorra to move four points clear of Cyprus and Estonia and six points ahead of next-to-last Netherlands. In Group Six, Belgium should beat San Marino to go to the top, moving above Scotland on goal difference. In this week's other games, Algeria hosts Slovakia on Tuesday while, on Wednesday, it's Croatia vs. Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Hungary, Greece vs. Russia, Leichtenstein vs. Latvia, Luxembourg vs. Finland, Malta vs. Sweden, Northern Ireland vs. Norway, Ireland vs. Denmark, Slovenia vs. Uruguay, Switzerland vs. Poland, Macedonia vs. Czech Republic, Colombia vs. Australia and Jordan vs. Bulgaria. Tuesday also features Kyrgyzstan vs Singapore and Kuwait vs. Bahrain in World Cup qualifying, while Wednesday brings Costa Rica vs. Honduras, Jamaica vs. Trinidad and Tobago, and U.S. vs. Mexico.
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