FA confirms England friendlies
Friendlies will be vital preperation for important group matches
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Monday, 15, Sep 2008 09:06
The Football Association has confirmed that England will play friendly internationals against Slovakia and Slovenia at Wembley in 2009.
Fabio Capello's side will face Slovakia on March 28th, three days before the home World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.
Slovenia will be England's opponents on September 5th ahead of what could be the crucial Group six decider against Croatia on September 9th.
Capello stressed the importance of the friendlies in preparing his side for the competitive games which follow.
"It's very important to play similar style opposition as practice for the competitive matches," Capello said.
"The Slovakia and Slovenia games will be very good preparation for the vital World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Croatia."
Meanwhile, England's fellow Group six opponents, Kazakhstan have sacked their manager Arno Pijpers following a poor start to their campaign.
Kazakhstan began with a 3-0 victory over Andorra, but have since lost 3-0 at Croatia and 3-0 at home to Ukraine.
They will hope to have a new manager in charge by the time they play England at Wembley on October 11th.