© EuroFootball.com
National team strategists often complain about not having the opportunity to experiment and try out the game, but the friendly matches taking place on Wednesday will give them that chance.
There will be two European Championship qualifying matches: Finland will host San Marino at home, while Malta's footballers will travel to Croatia, but probably more attention will be focused on intriguing friendly matches, "Reuters" reports.
One such match is the showdown between South American giants Brazil and Argentina, which will take place in Qatar. The Argentinians will have a chance to secure their first victory against their fierce rivals since the 2006 World Cup qualifying tournament.
Meanwhile, Brazil's new team strategist Mano Menezes will tackle his tasks and try to bring back an attacking style to the team. Especially since the once best player on the planet, Ronaldinho, has been included in the squad after a long break.
Meanwhile, the national team strategists of England and France - Fabio Capello and Laurent Blanc, respectively - have included many new players in their squads.
Within the English ranks, there are three 20-year-olds: striker Andy Carroll, midfielder Jordan Henderson, and defender Chris Smalling, as well as young players Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere. Also, for the first time, a player representing the second league club "Cardiff" will play for his country, defender Jay Bothroyd.
Turkey's national team strategist Guus Hiddink is under pressure to renew the squad after a humiliating defeat to Azerbaijan in the European Championship qualifying tournament.
The Dutchman listened to the criticism and invited 10 players who have never worn the national team's jerseys. Among them is Mehmet Ekici, born in Germany and represented the country's youth team, now choosing to represent Turkey thanks to Hiddink's efforts. Ersan Gulum, who once played for Australia's youth team and was born in this country, will also have a chance to make his debut for the Turkish national team.
The conservative approach is maintained by the national team coach of the world's vice-champion Netherlands, Bert van Marwijk, who included Robin van Persie and veteran Mark van Bommel in the squad. He missed the opportunity to give chances to younger players, even though the mentioned duo is plagued by injuries.
Lisbon will host a friendly match between Portugal and Spain, who are both aiming to host the 2018 World Cup.
Neither Portuguese coach Paulo Bento nor his colleague Vicente Del Bosque, who selected 22 players from the 23 World Cup champions, seem inclined to experiment.
Recall that the Lithuanian team went to Hungary to face the team that secured three victories in four matches in the European Championship qualifying tournament.
