England vs Honduras - Competition: International Friendly
Ecuador team qualified with a solid 4th rank in the strong south american qualification group.
They ended up behind Argentinia, Columbia and Chile but managed to stay
in front of Uruguay (who qualified via playoff later). In March they
tested against world cup participant Australia. After a 0:3 loss at halftime they managed to come back sensationally and win the game 4:3! – You better don’t quit on these guys early. On 17th May they played a friendly in Amsterdam Arena against the Netherlands and reached a 1:1 draw. Last Saturday they travelled to Arlington (Texas) to play a Mexican team that showed nice form lately. In the end they lost 3:1 against an impressive Mexican side. Their top-stars carry the same name on their shirts: Valencia. On the one hand there is Antonio Valencia, the experienced guy from top-club Manchester United and on the other side they have young guy Enna
Valencia from CF Pachuca. While Antonio played a poor season at ManU
and couldn’t convince in the team lately as well, Enna seems to be a rising star. He netted thrice for the team lately (also against Mexiko) and we could see his breakout at the world cup in Brazil.
Speaking of the world cup – “el Tri” will face France, Honduras and
Switzerland in the group stage. 2 european opponents – that’s why
England as a test partner makes absolutely sense and Ecuador will take
this one very serious.
Probable lineups Ecuador: Banguera – Paredes, Guagua, Achilier, Bagui –Gruezo, Noboa – A.Valencia, Mendez, Rojas – Caicedo.
England team has to face Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the group stage of Brazil 2014. That’s why testing against an other south american team is definitely a good decision. Therefore also England will take this game very serious and we can look forward to a foretaste of world cup action!
The “three lions” should come with confidence after the clear 3:0
victory from last Friday against Peru. Their performance, however, wasn’t impressive. An amazing individual effort from Liverpool-Star Sturridge and two converted corners sealed the victory. None the less a clear victory
against a team that totally focused on defense and destroying the game.
We could see Manager Roy Hodgson trying several options. Welbeck
started as single striker with Lallana and Sturridge on the wings and
Rooney behind them. Later Sterling came on for Rooney (we hope to see
both together this time) and Sturridge gave the middle-striker. Welbeck
and Sturridge came from the wings then in their 4-4-3 formation.
Lallana went to defensive midfield. Wilshere gave his comeback and
replaced legend Steven Gerrard after 64. minutes. This english squad
definitely holds a lot of offensive power but wasn’t able to show it yet. Against Ecuador they will need to step it up a notch to reach a positive result!
Probable lineups England: Hart – Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines –Henderson, Gerrard – Lallana, Rooney, Welbeck – Sturridge.
Match date: Wednesday, June 04, 2014
Kick Off Time: 19:00 GMT
Venue: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Kick Off Time: 19:00 GMT
Venue: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
