Countdown to World Cup!
The leading contenders will play their final warm-up matches over the next few days.
With just over a week now to the kick-off of the World Cup on Friday 14 June, the next few days will see the final set of preparatory games for the top contenders.
With the 23-man squads now all finalised, it is about polishing tactics, working on combinations, perfecting set-pieces and practising, practising and practising.
Among the teams with realistic ambition of success, namely Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, England France, Germany, Portugal and Spain, all have a final run out this week, although we have seen little so far from the World Cup warm-ups to suggest any patterns.
World champions Germany, for example, lost for the first time in more than a half century to Austria and go into their home match against Saudi Arabia on Friday without success in their last five outings.
That is almost unheard of for the Germans. It last happened in 1930 when they went six games without a victory.
Usually the Germans like to head off to the World Cup with a soft match, just to put them in the right mood for the competition and leaving everyone with a feel-good effect.
Before the 2010 finals they played Malta and Bosnia, and before they went to Brazil four years ago, when they emerged victorious of course, the Germans finished their warm-up programme with a 6-1 thrashing of Armenia in front of their fans in Mainz.
It was probably no coincidence that they then scored four goals, without reply, in their opening World Cup game against Portugal in Salvador.
France have beaten Ireland and Italy in their two build-up games over the last fortnight and now look for the same effect against the United States, who they host in Lyon on Saturday. TAB soccer punters have found predicting some of the friendly results tough to call over the last two weeks and that’s generated some handsome pay outs with the likes of Germany losing and Portugal, for example, struggling with their form.
Cristiano Ronaldo and colleagues go to Russia as the European champions, but going into their friendly against Algeria in Lisbon this Thursday, they have just a single win from their past five fixtures.
The first of the 32 competing teams are set to arrive in Russia in the next days and from next Tuesday there are no more warm-up games allowed. The World Cup is now tantalisingly close!