Previewing Wednesday's International Match Day

If I were in charge of a World Cup contender's set-up, I would have called in a B-team for Wednesday's international friendlies.  It would be more valuable to give my A-team a week off.  If my team needs the experience of this isolated match, my team may already be too far adrift.  After all, do Brazil or Spain really need Wednesday's match to build their team's core?

Regardless, their are four marquee-caliber matches on Wednesday's docket, and why they are only friendlies, each will be worth watching for the countries' name value alone:

1. France (#7, FIFA) versus Spain (#1) - France has the talent to be a contender in June (and July), but they have not played consistently strong soccer since 2000.  Spain has been the world's standard over the last two years, their dominant UEFA qualifying performance underscoring the shock of their Confederations Cup disappointment.  This may be France's last chance to prove to themselves that they are a legitimate contender in South Africa.
2. Germany (#6) versus Argentina (#8) - a brilliant battle of styles would be historically be a brilliant tactical battle, but here we have Joachim Löw's prowess against Diego Maradona.   While Maradona's decisions have been interesting since he took over for Coco Basile, they have rarely been associated with prowess.
3. England (#9) versus Egypt (#10) - Egypt has brought in a full squad, a squad that is more powerful than their African Cup winners thanks to the return of Mohamed Abroutrika.  A win over England will help their claim to being a significant club on the international scene, even if they have not been to a World Cup in 20 years.
4. Netherlands (#3) versus United States (#14) - the U.S. is depleted (missing Onyewu, Cherundolo, Dempsey and Davies), but they have garnered the world's attention after their performance last summer in South Africa.  The Dutch are slightly overrated at third in the world, yet they provide a great test of the U.S., particularly in defense.