Prestigious friendlies for England

24 August 2012 23:17

England are set to play up to four more "high-profile" friendlies next year to mark the Football Association's 150th anniversary.

The FA said on Friday they were poised to announce a February 6 clash to launch a year of celebration that will also include another glamour friendly on May 29 and the already-confirmed August 14 showdown with Scotland.

Should England not be involved in the play-offs for the 2014 World Cup the following November, they would then seek to arrange two more such games. FA communications director Adrian Bevington refused to reveal the opponents that were being sought for the first two matches, which are likely to be at Wembley.

But he added: "We will try to ensure that the friendlies available to our fans will be reflective of the history of the England national team and will be extremely attractive to everybody."

That would appear to make Germany the dream opponents for the May fixture, with Joachim Low's men scheduled to play France on the February date.

That could be filled by a number of teams and supporters would doubtless be most excited about a match against Brazil or Argentina, although they are also likely to have the chance to travel to Brazil this summer for an away friendly against the World Cup hosts.

Bevington confirmed England planned to fly to the country the day after the May 29 match for two fixtures - the other possibly being against Uruguay - and those games could take place in Rio and Belo Horizonte.

England would seek to make use of the base camp they identify for their potential World Cup finals campaign during that trip.

Should they qualify, their build-up to the World Cup would see them play a Wembley friendly in March 2014 and another that May before one more en route to Brazil.

There had been suggestions that would be in Florida but that has been played down.

Source: PA