With the European games reaching the business end of qualification and the South American journey to the 2018 World Cup beginning, there promises to be some mouth-watering clashes in the coming days
Fresh from scoring five goals at the weekend, all eyes will be on Sergio Aguero as Argentina begin their long journey to qualify for the 2018 World Cup
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In the early hours of Friday morning both Argentina and Brazil will be in action and City’s Argentinian quartet of Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Nicolas Otamendi and Martin Demichelis have been included in the La Albiceleste’s games against Ecuador and Paraguay.
The first game will be in Buenos Aires against the Ecuadorians and the second game will be away to Paraguay in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Brazil, featuring Fernandinho, face a difficult start with an away trip to Chile on Friday and then a home game with Venezuela on Wednesday.
David Silva’s Spain need just a point to confirm qualification for Euro 2016 – and they should get it at home to Luxembourg in what will be La Roja’s 150th Uefa European Championship match.
In the unlikely even they slip up, they can try and secure the result needed away to Ukraine next week – Silva is likely to feature in both games and will reach 95 caps for his country if he does.
Aleksandar Kolarov’s Serbia cannot progress from their group but their trip to face Albania is bound to be under intense scrutiny this Thursday following the disgraceful scenes in the first meeting between these two countries.
In that game, Kolarov was one of the heroes of the night – though not for football reasons – as he sought to calm down an explosive situation that saw a drone fly over the stadium carrying a flag that ultimately caused chaotic scenes.
Albanian players were attacked by Serbian fans and eventually the players ran for the safety of the dressing room, but it was Kolarov who ensured several Albanians made it safely back, forming a protective shield as missiles rained down towards the tunnel.
The game was later awarded to Albania and Serbia were deducted three points, effectively making a difficult task to qualify impossible. Albania can take a step closer to qualification with a victory in Elbasan. Serbia will play again on Sunday against Portugal in Belgrade
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Euro 2016 hosts France play Armenia in a friendly on the same night with Bacary Sagna and Eliaquim Mangala in the squad and then travel to Denmark next week for another game with nothing other than pride at stake. Wilfried Bony has been included in Ivory Coast’s squad with friendly opposition as yet to be confirmed.
Kevin De Bruyne, Vincent Kompany and Jason Denayer should all be celebrating Belgium’s qualification to Euro 16 when they return from international duty.
The Red Devils will almost certainly seal at least second spot in their group if they beat Andorra on Saturday. One win from either that game or at home to Israel next week will ensure progress to the finals – Kompany could feature against the Israelis if he has recovered from a calf strain.
Finally, Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling could add to their collection of caps in England’s remaining two group games. With Roy Hodgson’s side already group winners, the games against Estonia and Lithuania aren’t quite as crucial as they might have been, but the Three Lions will want to continue their 100% record and should achieve their goal.
