May 26, 2012 5:00 PM BST
AFG Arena — St. Gallen
Spain
It was announced on Wednesday that David Villa would definitely not be
fit in time to play at the European Championships this summer due to the
broken leg he suffered back in December. He missed the majority of the
season as a result and has finally given up any hope of making it back
in time for the Euros. Spain are also set to be without Carles Puyol due to a knee injury.
Barcelona take on Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey Final on Friday, so no players from either team have been named in the Spain squad for this match. Fernando Torres and Juan Mata were late additions to the squad.
Serbia
Newly appointed Serbia manager Sinisa Mihajlovic looks set to
experiment, having left out several regulars from his first squad.
Kuzmanovic, Krasic, Milijas, Jovanovic, Sulejmani and Zigic have all
missed out.
Subotic and Ivanovic are amongst the big names from European football that could feature for the Serbs.
Probable Lineups
Spain (4-2-3-1) : Casillas, Alba, Albiol, Ramos, Arbeola, Alonso, Benat, Silva, Carzola, Navas, Soldado.
Serbia (4-4-2) : Brkic, Ninkov, Subotic, Ivanovic, Kolarov, Basta, Matic, Petrovic, Tomic, Ljajic, Tosic.
Prediction
Spain play this friendly with a squad that is likely to be changed
significantly before the final one is selected for the European
Championships. Some of their players here will not make the final cut
for the Euros so will be looking to impress before the Barcelona and
Athletic Bilbao players are brought in.
Spain are always expected to dominate their games, even without the
likes of Xavi and Iniesta, given the vast array of talent in the ranks.
Serbia, meanwhile, will be able to play under no pressure as they failed
to qualify for the Euros. New manager Mihajlovic has said he will quit
if he fails to get them to the 2014 World Cup, but the result against
Spain is unlikely to mean much.
Spain should take control of the game and break a stubborn Serbia
defence down with their patient passing game, though they won't be at
their best due to their missing players.
Spain 2 - 0 Serbia
0 comments:
Post a Comment