Russia 2018 Finalists: International Friendlies (R)

So...

...Friendlies.

 

Argentina:
March 22 v Italy in Manchester (Etihad)
March 27 v Spain in Madrid (Wanda)
May 30 v ??? at La Bombonera or in Rosario

On June 1 the team will then travel to Barcelona and work out at FC Barcelona's training facilities at Ciutat Esportiva before heading to Russia.
A possible friendly against Catalunya for June 4 is being mentioned but there are stumbling blocks.
Camp Nou is the ideal venue but stadium maintenance has been scheduled during that time. Cornellà-El Prat (Espanyol) and Montjuïc (Olympics) are other possible venues.
Another issue is the potential difficulty of Catalunya forming a competitive team. Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba will likely be with Spain. Gerard Deulofeu, Sergi Roberto and Gerard Moreno could also be called up for the World Cup.
And with La Liga finishing on May 20 there are issues on if non-World Cup players would be willing to give up a few days vacation leading up to the friendly and whether their clubs are willing to release them.

 

Morocco dropped 3 places to 42nd in the new FIFA ranking. Nigeria dropped 1 place to 52nd. Despite not playing at CHAN, Egypt dropped 13 places to 43rd, the biggest drop of any country in this ranking.

 

Must have checked something wrong

 

Morocco won CHAN and dropped 3 places.....

 

yea like friendly matches...

 

African nations finalise World Cup warm-up matches
http://kwese.espn.com/football/nige...an-nations-finalise-world-cup-warm-up-matches

 

Nice!

Highlights:
Egypt - Portugal
Nigeria - Serbia
Nigeria - Poland
Morocco - Serbia

 

It has to do with recalculation of points won during 2017 and 2015 in African Cup of Nations, mostly played during January.

For some time now, on every February, African rankings took a hit because those points move into a lower bracket:
11 months old --> 100% worth
12 months old --> 50% worth
24 months old --> 30% worth
36 months old --> 20% worth

This will change once the African Cup of Nations moves to its new June schedule. Then, you will see African ranking drops every July

 

Saudi Arabia 3 Moldova 0

 

No friendly with Catalunya, Argentina will play Israel in Tel aviv on June 9

 

Iraq 4 vs S. Arabia 1

although from my limited knowledge of SA football, it seems that the lineup was extremely experimental, and a much stronger lineup was used in their 3-0 victory over Moldova the other day.

 

3.24 (local time) KOREA vs NORTHERN IRELAND in Belfast
3.27 (local time) KOREA vs POLAND in Chorzow

 

yepp, i think it was the "b-team" this match.

 

Egypt vs Colombia June 1st

 

Will be a very important indicator as to the relative strength of both teams. Probably a more relative match than most, especially if they play with teams aimed at finetuning their games.

 

I haven't heard anything in the Colombian media yet but that would be a good test.

 

Honduras is going to play South Korea May 28th.

 

I heard it on egyptian medias, they will play in Italy

 

It's not a confirmed match. Haven't heard anything on Korea's part. But wouldn't be surprised since we have Mexico in our group.

 

Interesing callups by Rohr- 28 players for Nigeria (save for a couple of injured players no chance anyone outside the list will make it):
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Enyimba FC); Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United, South Africa)

Does Uzoho being listed first mean he is now first choice goalie?

Defenders: Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor FC, Turkey); Tyronne Ebuehi (Ado Den Haag, The Netherlands); Olaoluwa Aina (Hull City, England); Elderson Echiejile (Cercle Brugge KSV, Belgium); Brian Idowu (Amkar Perm, Russia); Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC, France); William Ekong (Bursaspor FC, Turkey); Leon Balogun (FSV Mainz 05, Germany); Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa FC, Turkey); Stephen Eze (Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
Midfielders: Mikel John Obi (Tianjin Teda, China); Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor FC, Turkey); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Oghenekaro Etebo (Las Palmas, Spain); John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel); Uche Agbo (Standard Liege, Belgium); Joel Obi (Torino FC, Italy)

Injury ridden Joel Obi in the squad!

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Victor Moses (Chelsea FC, England); Odion Ighalo (Changchun Yatai, China); Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC, England); Junior Ajayi (Al Ahly, Egypt); Gabriel Okechukwu (Akwa United)

Big call ups for Okechukwu and Junior Ajayi. Both auditioning for the cengtre forward position?

 

Serbia squad announced for friendlies vs Morocco and Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/JJn8IrlGzz

— Serbian Football (@SerbianFooty) March 10, 2018

 

Ohh nice, i think Serbia have an interesting squad!