07.06. (Tue) 19:00 Azerbaijan - Germany

DID YOU KNOW?

Azerbaijan lost their last qualifier against Kazakhstan. In the press conference afterward, coach Berti Vogts had a toilet paper roll thrown at him.

Before moving to Azerbaijan, Vogts coached the nation of his birth, Germany.

Azerbaijan have only won two matches since Vogts took over as coach in 2008.

One of those wins came in October as Azerbaijan beat Turkey 1-0 in Baku, earning their only points of Euro qualifying.

Germany have a perfect 18 points from six Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Mario Gomez, who was the match-winner against Austria has scored in his last three international matches.

Low's squad boasts Europe's best goal difference in qualifiers, with the second-highest goals scored tally.

Lukas Podolski is the most capped player in the German squad, with 88 appearances for country. He surpassed Bastian Schweinsteiger's tally in his last match, and is 12th on his country's all-time list.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Azerbaijan (4-1-4-1)
Agayev; Melikov, A. Sadygov, Javadov, Aliyev; F. Sadygov; Abushev, Nadyrov, Medvedev, Levin; Ismayilov

Only one change is expected from the Azeri side, as Vugar Nadyrov is set to replace Javid Huseynov in midfield, after scoring his country's equaliser in their 2-1 loss to Kazakhstan on Friday.

Germany (4-2-3-1)
Neuer; Lahm, Friedrich, Badstuber, Schmelzer; Hummels, Kroos; Muller, Ozil, Podolski; Gomez

Sami Khedira and Simon Rolfes are the latest to withdraw from Joachim Low's squad, leaving the coach with no option but to give Sebastian Rudy his first ever call-up. With Khedira, Rolfes, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sven Bender, and Christian Trasch all unavailable to play in defensive midfield, Rudy has a genuine chance to start, although Low's other option is to advance Mats Hummels from defence to midfield.

Elsewhere, the absence of Miroslav Klose means that Mario Gomez will start as the attacking focal point. Low may experiment with his attacking options, but in all likelihood will use his tried and tested combination of Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski from the start.

Prediction

Azerbaijan have become quite resilient in Baku, and may well take a clean sheet into half-time. However, in spite of their injuries, Germany have more than enough quality - and crucially, fitness - to earn a comfortable win.

Azerbaijan 0-3 Germany

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07.06. (Tue) 13:00 South Korea - Ghana

Avengin an old loss with an experimental team

Coach Cho Kwang-Rae knows the World Cup quarter-finalists are not going to be a walk in the park but is still expected to make changes in his starting eleven.

Since September last year, the Taegeuk Warriors have ‘severed’ ties with defeats. They have recorded an unbeaten record of 11 games with the latest against Serbia in an international friendly that ended 2-1 in their favour.

Both teams are expected to put up an entertaining match in Seoul that will flow throughout the game as the two tacticians are highly expected to employ strategies to protect their record. Kwang-Rae has recorded eight wins, four draws and one defeat in his tenure. The tactician is also expected to make some changes in his starting line-up to experiment with his formation as well as study other players.

Maintaining winning ways

Ghana, undoubtedly one of the most motivated African sides at the moment, will be looking forward to maintain their winning ways against South Korea this Tuesday in an international friendly. Currently ranked as the best in Africa, the Black Stars, under coach Goran Stevanovic, who is yet to taste a defeat at his new post, will enforce their new found attacking strategy to beat a faster Korean side.

The last time the west Africans met the Taegeuk Warriors five years back at the same venue, it was the Asians that met their waterloo. The score was 3-1 for Ghana. Striker Asamoah Gyan, who hit a brace for the four-time African champions, is still around and has transformed into a better goal scoring machine than ever, but the other scorer Michael Essien, who just returned to the squad after a hiatus is unavailable for the game.

Ghana is expected to make changes to their starting line-up compared to the one that faced Congo in their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Kumasi last Friday. Captain John Mensah picked a knock in that game and Udinese’s Jonathan Mensah is most likely to replace him.

AC Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng is also unavailable as he was due to fly back to Milan for further checks on an injury he sustained in the Serie A. In addition, the squad left Ghana on Saturday without Essien, Prince Tagoe, Andre Ayew, Samuel Inkoom and second goalkeeper Sammy Adjei. Some new faces are therefore expected in the squad on Tuesday.

FORM GUIDE

South Korea

3 June: Korea 2:1 Serbia (Friendly)

25 March: Korea 4:0 Honduras (Friendly)

9 February: Turkey 0:0 Korea (Friendly)

28 January: Uzbekistan 2:3 Korea (Asia)

25 January: Japan 2:2 Korea (Asia)

Ghana

3 June: Ghana 3-1 Congo (Afcon qualifier)

29 March: England 1-1 Ghana (Friendly)

27 March: Congo 0:3 Ghana (Afcon qualifier)

8 February: Togo 1:4 Ghana (Friendly)

10 October: Ghana 0:0 Sudan (Afcon qualifier)

TEAM NEWS

Korea

Sunderland target Ji Dong-Won could start with more playing time granted. Wolfsburg's Koo Ja-Cheol can be used in a more attacking role behind Park Chu-Young since Lee Keun-Ho did not impress in the Serbia game and may be dropped. Midfielder Kim Bo-Kyeong is also likely to get more playing time against Ghana.

Probable Line-up: 
Jung SR; Cha DR, Hong JH, Lee JS, Kim YG; Ki SH, Lee YR, Lee CY, Kim JW, Koo Ja-Cheol; Park CY

Ghana

The Black Stars have arrived in the Korean capital, Seoul. Some key stars are unavailable for the friendly as a result of injury and seeing to personal issues. Captain John Mensah, Michael Essien, Prince Tagoe, Samuel Inkoom, Sammy Adjei, Andre Ayew and Kevin-Prince Boateng have all been ruled out of the test game.

Probable Line-up: 
Richard Kingson; John Paintsil, Daniel Opare, Jonathan Mensah, Isaac Vorsah; Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Derek Boateng, Andre Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah, Prince Tagoe, Asamoah Gyan

PREDICTION

Total home support will go against the Black Stars, but they have shone on bigger stages before to have a cause to complain. Both sides have equal chances to win this game although it appears the west Africans are more compact. It could end in a draw.

South Korea 2-2 Ghana

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07.06. (Tue) 12:30 Japan - Czech

DID YOU KNOW?

Since 1991, the host nation, Japan, have won the tournament ten times, while the Czech Republic lifted the Kirin Cup once, back in 1998.

Three times in the history of the tournament the cup was shared by two teams that ended with the same exact record.

However, the tournament has never featured the three participants with the same scores, a possibility for this 2011 edition, should the third game as well end with the 0-0 tie.

Japan have played nine games with Zaccheroni at the helm, and have never been defeated.

The game in Yokohama will be the sixth away game in a row for the Czech Republic.

Japan occupies 14th place in the FIFA ranking, while the Czech Republic sit in the 32nd spot.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Japan (3-4-3):
Kawashima; Makino, Konno, Inoha; Uchida, Hasebe, Endo, Nagatomo; Honda, Lee, Okazaki.

Hard to predict precisely who will be fielded by Alberto Zaccheroni, after the Italian manager made it clear that his main concern now is to try alternative solutions. There are speculations that he will feature his favourite 3-4-3, but this time with Atsuto Uchida and Yuto Nagatomo on the flanks.

The two will have to adapt to a different role from the one they usually occupy at Schalke 04 and Inter. Another player who might have to adapt to Zac's ideas is Akihiro Ienaga. We might see the Mallorca attacking midfielder in the second half to take Yasuhito Endo's spot in the midfield.

Czech Republic (4-5-1):
Cech; Kusnir, R. Hubnik, Rajnoch, Kadlec; Vacek, Trapp, Petrzela, Kolar, Fenin; Necid

Czech coach Michal Bilek has had to deal with injuries and the absence of many regular starters. In the previous game against Peru he in fact fielded five debutants, including Theodor Gebre Selassie, who has an Ethiopian father, and was the first black player ever to play for the top Czech Republic team.

Experimentation might forcibly continue for the Czech who, just as their Japanese counterpart, are using this tournament to prepare for competitive games coming later next autumn. Petr Cech is the veteran who will lead a group made mainly of inexperienced youngsters.

Prediction

Japan 1-1 Czech Rep.

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06.06. (Mon) 21:00 Ukraine - France

DID YOU KNOW?

Ukraine have already qualified for Euro 2012 as hosts along with Poland.
The Yellow-Blues have played a string of international friendlies, with their most recent encounter ending in a comfortable 2-0 win over Uzbekistan last Wednesday.
Before that, Oleg Blokhin's men slipped to a 2-0 defeat to Italy in March.
All-time top scorer Andriy Shevchenko has announced he will retire after next summer's championships. The former Milan and Chelsea star has 45 strikes to his name, three times as much as the next person on the list, Sergey Rebrov.
The Eastern Europeans participated in the Cytavision Cyprus Tournament in February, which they won on penalties against Sweden.
The last time Ukraine hosted Les Bleus was in a Euro 2008 qualifier, in which the sides drew 2-2.
Ukraine lie 35th in the World Rankings.

France laboured to a 1-1 draw against Belarus on Friday.
Despite the setback, they remain top of Group D, four points ahead.
Les Bleus were also below-par in their previous international friendly, in which they could only draw 0-0 with Croatia in March.
Before that however, Laurent Blanc's men recorded impressive wins over England and Brazil.
France prevailed 1-0 in the last time the two nations met in an international friendly, in 2004.
History favours the visitors, they have not tasted defeat against Oleg Blokhin's side in five games.
France occupy 19th position in the World Rankings.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Ukraine (4-3-3)
Pyatov; Kucher, Khacheridi, Mandzyuk, Shevchuk; Tymoshchuk, Rotan; Gusev; Milevskiy, Voronin; Shevchenko

Ukraine boss Oleg Blokhin has singled out the international friendly against France as 'important'. The national team tactician is without the services of some players such as Andriy Yarmolenko who are on U-21 European Championship duty.

Nevertheless, the optimistic coach has set a target of winning Euro 2012 on home soil, and has included the key players in the squad, including talisman Andriy Shevchenko, who recently announced he will be hanging up his boots after next summer's championship.

France (4-2-3-1)
Lloris; Sagna, Sakho, Rami, Evra; M'Vila; Diarra; Nasri; Ribery, Malouda; Benzema

Les Bleus endured a difficult time against Belarus on Friday evening, only mustering a 1-1 draw against their Eastern European opponents.

Laurent Blanc vented his frustration after the game at dropping points, and could be set to experiment with his side on Monday evening, with fringe players such as Marvin Martin and Kevin Gameiro expected to play some part in this friendly.

Prediction

Ukraine are a difficult unit to beat, especially at home, but with no points at stake, and Laurent Blanc's side able to express themselves, their fortunes could well change on Monday evening. A narrow win for the out-of-sorts visitors may well be the most probable result.

Editor's Prediction

Ukraine 1-2 France

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05.06. (Sun) 12:00 Benin - Ivory Coast

Doing their best and leaving the rest

The Benin national team are striving to gather their form amid series of internal crises that have rocked the West African nation’s football of late. Barely a month ago, there were two football federations – one supported by the local authorities while the other had the backing of Caf and Fifa.

Two coaches were drawing two parallel lists of players. The domestic league had been languishing in confusion, several club officials and their players had taken to the streets of Cotonou to protest the generalised imbroglio.

However, some sanity seems to have been injected into the whole system and football is being played again, with local fans yearning to see the Squirrels compete on home turf after their 2-1 semi-debacle against Cote D’Ivoire in Ghana during the 2012 Afcon third round qualifying.

Benin are confronting the Elephants for the umpteenth time, but with little or no lessons learnt from their continuous loss to the Ivorians. Perhaps the star-studded Cote D’Ivoire team naturally outmatch the Benin side or perhaps an inferiority complex sets in even before both teams set out on the pitch.

Nevertheless, Benin are at it again and must engage the likes of Chelsea’s duo Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, Lille’s Gervinho and Manchester City’s Yaya Toure. With just Stephane Sessegnon of Sunderland, Michaël Poté of Le Man and Metz forward Razack Omotoyossi to count on, together with a bunch of home based elements, the on-paper predictions are not going easily for the hosts.

If coach Fortuné Glèlè can galvanize his troop to throw their all in the clash as if no other was ahead, Benin could check the Ivorians and rake in whatever is to be deserved.

Striking while the iron is hot

With nine points from three games, Cote D’Ivoire are hoping to top up to 12 after Sunday’s meeting in Cotonou. Group H has been deemed by pundits as a cheap gift for the Ivorians who are matched up against minnows Burundi, Rwanda and Benin.

Benin are still trailing Cote D’Ivoire by five points, and any outcome on Sunday will not affect the Ivorian position of the group. Still, claiming three points away from home would do the Elephants much good in negotiating the rest of the campaign.

An early qualification for the 2012 African Cup of Nations would buy coach Francois Zahoui more prestige at the FA and around the country, where a number of fans are yet to be convinced with the performance of the indigenous tactician thus far. He would also have ample time to prepare for the showpiece proper.

Another weight on the coach’s shoulders is sending some joy back home from the encounter in order to pacify millions of Ivorians who are still suffering from the trauma of the five-month post election violence that claimed some 3,000 lives and forced millions to flee their homes.

Didier Drogba and co are conscious of the role football has played in reconciling Ivorians in the past and this will be another opportunity to demonstrate how valuable soccer is in the socio-political life of a nation.

If the Ivorians play their traditional game without underrating the adversary, they are capable of carrying the day, big or small.

TEAM NEWS

Benin

No news of injury was reported at the Squirrels’ press conference on Friday. The 23 players, which include seven locals, had successive training sessions at the match venue of Stade de l’Amitie in Cotonou from Wednesday through Friday.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Guillaume Bèmènou (Chambéry, France), Saturnin Allagbé (ASPAC, Benin), Kenneth Odilo (Soleil, Benin).
Defenders : Romuald Boco (Shanghai East Asia, China), Khaled Adénon (Le Mans, France), Emmanuel Imorou (Chateauroux, France), Réda Johnson (Sheffield United, England), Damien Chrysostome (Denizlispor, Turkey), Arsène Ménessou (Le Havre, France).
Midfielders : Junior Salomon (ASPAC, Benin), Affissou Fayomi (Requins, Benin), Seydath Tchomogo (Al Oruba Club, Oman), Nouhoum Kobénan (Al Madina, Libya), Koukou Djiman (Créteil, France), Jocelyn Ahouéya (Strasbourg, France), Arnaud Séka (Tonnerre, Benin), Mouritala Ogounbiyi (Guingamp, France), Stéphane Sessègnon (Sunderland, England).
Forwards : Michaël Poté (Le Mans, France), Razack Omotoyossi (FC Metz, France), Isaac Louté (Soleil, Benin), Mohamed Aoudou (Tonnerre, Benin).

Cote D’Ivoire

Stuttgart defender Boka Arthur, PSG’s Tiéné Siaka, and Trabzonspor’s new recruit Zokora Didier have been confirmed unfit for the match due to injury. AS Monaco’s Lolo Igor was hurriedly summoned to fill part of the gap.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Barry Boubacar (Lokeren, Belgium), Yeboah Daniel (Asec Mimosas, Ivory), Gnanhouan Gerard (Vannes OC, France)
Defenders : Angoua Brou Benjamin (Valenciennes, France), Gohouri Steve (Wigan, England), Eboue Emmanuel (Arsenal, England), Lolo Igor (OGC NICE, France)
Midfielders: Toure Yaya (Manchester City, England), Coulibaly Kafoumba (OGC NICE, France), Gosso Gosso Jean-Jacques (AS Monaco, France), N’dri Romaric (Sevilla, Spain), Max Gradel (Leeds United, England), Ya Konan Didier (Hannover 96, Germany)
Forwards: Yao Kouassi Gervais (Lille, France), Doumbia Seydou (CSKA Moscow), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, England), Kalou Salomon (Chelsea, England), Keita Abdul Kader (AL Sadd Sport, Qatar), Boni Wilfried Guemiand (SBV Vitesse Arhnem)

PREDICTION

On paper, it would be safe to tip Cote D’Ivoire to beat Benin, but physically, many things come into play that might possibly alter the forecast. However, I would give the Ivorians the nod.

Benin 1-2 Cote D’Ivoire

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