2 more days to Phat Nite, just in case anyone was wondering. Held at Room E.308, I guess. Just like last year's. Hopefully we seniors get more drinks despite our ticket saying only 1 free drink.

Okay, NOW I know where the Holland-vs-Germany match is going to be held. Rotterdam!! Yes, Rotterdamn; De Kuip Stadium, to be exact. Chey...must've been blind not to see the big headlines. And now, I've got the scoop on the squad for Germany; the probable squad, that is. Same story, courtesy of ESPNsoccer.net, if anyone wants to have a look, here's the link: http://soccernet.com

Now, the article on the upcoming friendly match between Holland & Germany. I don't know why I'm so excited. Probably because of my distant Dutch blood, I do feel a sense of patriotism for the country even though I wasn't born in it & I can't speak Dutch to save myself even though I recall vague memories of us visiting Eindhoven when I was younger. Much, much younger. Frankly speaking, I hope the Dutch win. But I'm thinking it's gonna be a draw like last time during the Euro '04 where Michael Ballack scored first but Ruud van Nistelrooy hit back with a bicycle kick. Hah!! So, here it is.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Germany will attempt to end their 14-match winless run against top opponents when they face arch-rivals Netherlands in a friendly on Wednesday.

Next year's World Cup hosts have not beaten a major side since a 1-0 win over England in the last match played at Wembley Stadium in October 2000 and Dietmar Hamann, the scorer of their match-winner that day, believes a victory is long overdue.

'Wembley is light years behind us. Now it's time to end the run against the best teams,' said Hamann, back in the midfield after missing June's Confederations Cup with a stress fracture in his right foot. 'I'm feeling full of running.'

Injury has forced Borussia Moenchengladbach striker Oliver Neuville to withdraw while German coach Juergen Klinsmann decided not to include youngsters Bastian Schweinsteiger of Bayern Munich or Cologne's Lukas Podolski.

'This is a sensible measure and was agreed with (Schweinsteiger and Podolski's) club trainers. They need time to raise their fitness levels,' Klinsmann told a news conference in Frankfurt.

Instead he has opted for experience, recalling Liverpool midfielder Hamann and Borussia Dortmund defender Christian Woerns, the most experienced outfield player in the squad with 64 caps.

'They bring experience to the line-up,' said Klinsmann,. 'However, both have understood that many younger players have moved up and that as a result the fight for places in the national team has become even harder and livelier.'

The last time Germany beat the Netherlands was in a friendly in Rotterdam in 1996 with Klinsmann scoring the only goal.

Although Germany's run against top teams is poor, Klinsmann has suffered only two defeats in 17 matches since he took over as coach from Rudi Voeller last year.

Dutch coach Marco Van Basten has selected a strong side ahead of their World Cup qualifiers next month and every match against the Germans represents a cup final for the Dutch.

Van Basten will be without Barcelona defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Feyenoord winger Romeo Castelen, both sidelined with short term injuries, while AZ Alkmaar's Joris Mathijsen is recovering from knee surgery.

Their absences have not worried Van Basten who says: 'I have a group of 10 defenders and that is a luxury.'

Van Basten's men are on course for next year's finals, currently topping European qualifying Group One, one point above the Czech Republic whom they face in Prague on October 8.
In September they face Armenia and Andorra and Wednesday's match represents their final warm-up before those games.

Van Basten could rest in-form Bundesliga players Rafael van der Vaart and Roy Makaay although Makaay, who has scored five times in the opening two matches for Bayern Munich, would like to play his part in the game.

'I don't expect to start, but I hope to get some time. It would be nice to play against my own goalkeeper Oliver Kahn,' Makaay said.

Probable teams:

Netherlands: Edwin van der Sar; Jan Kromkamp, Khalid Boulahrouz, Barry Opdam, Tim de Cler; Denny Landzaat, Hedwiges Maduro, Philip Cocu; Dirk Kuijt, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben.

Germany: Oliver Kahn; Arne Friedrich, Christian Woerns, Per Mertesacker, Bernd Schneider; Fabian Ernst, Michael Ballack, Dietmar Hamann, Torsten Frings; Miroslav Klose, Kevin Kuranyi

Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)

Quite interesting, it should be. Like I said, I''m counting on a draw even though I would really, really love to see Team Oranje clinch it. That'll rub off the smug looks of critics who claimed that the Dutch were dying in soccer. Hmpf!! Anywayz, I found the French squad list for the game they play against Ivory Coast at the Stade de France for a friendly as well. Where is that stadium located?? I don't know. I shall ask the Fries when I see them online. Ahahahahkz...They are SO going to kill me.

MONTPELLIER, France, Aug 16 (Reuters) - France expect to be tested by Ivory Coast, the side Thierry Henry tips as next African champions, in a friendly on Wednesday.

After Zinedine Zidane announced his comeback to international duty two weeks ago, along with Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele, all tickets for the game in the Stade de la Mosson were sold in one day.

France are hoping for a good warm-up before resuming their World Cup qualifying campaign in two weeks. They are fourth in European Group Four behind leaders Ireland, Switzerland and Israel.

'I expect a very, very difficult game,' Arsenal striker Henry told reporters. 'It will be a very good game to prepare for the Faroe Islands and the others.'

France host the Faroe Islands in Lens on September 3 before facing Ireland four days later. They meet Switzerland on October 8 and then host Cyprus at the Stade de France four days later.

Henry will face Arsenal team mate and centre-back Kolo Toure against Ivory Coast.

'He's a solid and tough player,' said Henry. 'I play with him every day on the training ground and I can tell you he wakes me up.'

'We talked about the game with Kolo. They want to show their qualities against France as many of them play in the French league.

'I am sure they will be the next African champions,' added Henry.

Ivory Coast, who are led by former France coach Henri Michel, are top of their African zone group and will qualify for the World Cup finals in Germany should they beat Cameroon at home on September 4.

'If we beat France and do not qualify for the World Cup, I'm not interested. But I'm interested in beating France and then qualifying for the World Cup,' said Ivory Coast federation president Jacques Amena.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and RC Lens forward Aruna Dindane spearhead Ivory Coast's attack and will be up against Thuram and his central defensive partner Jean-Alain Boumsong.

Henry starts up front with Olympique Lyon's Sylvain Wiltord, his former Arsenal colleague.

Teams:

France: - Gregory Coupet; Willy Sagnol, Lilian Thuram, Jean-Alain Boumsong, William Gallas; Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Vikash Dhorasoo, Zinedine Zidane; Sylvain Wiltord, Thierry Henry

Ivory Coast: - Jean-Jacques Tizie; Marc Zoro, Cyril Domoraud, Kolo Toure, Arthur Boka, Emerse Fae, Didier Zokora, Bonaventure Kalou, Siaka Tiene; Didier Drogba, Aruna Dindane

Referee: - Paolo Bertini (Italy)

And a last article on the English team, who's preparing for their friendly against Denmark at the Parken Stadion, Copenhagen.

COPENHAGEN, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Jermain Defoe gets a rare chance to start an international ahead of Michael Owen when he leads the England attack against Denmark in a friendly on Wednesday.

Defoe will also play in place of Owen in next month's World Cup qualifier in Wales, which Real Madrid's now fifth-choice striker will miss through suspension.

Although Owen remains Sven-Goran Eriksson's first choice to play just ahead of Wayne Rooney up front, the chance for Defoe to introduce a sense of doubt into the England manager's mind is too good to miss.

'It's been at the back of my mind,' said Defoe, who realised his chance back in March, when Owen picked up a yellow card in England's 2-0 Group Six win over Azerbaijan in Newcastle.

'I just wanted to make sure I had a good pre-season and got off to a good start in the new campaign,' added the Spurs striker, who scored twice against Porto in a 2-0 friendly win on August 6 and once in Spurs' 2-0 season-opening win at Portsmouth on Saturday.

Defoe, 22, is also desperate to make the World Cup squad if England qualify for the finals as expected after missing out on Euro 2004.

But his chances of deposing Owen permanently as England's main striker remain slim, especially as Owen is likely to make a rare substitutes' appearance for his country at the Parken Stadium, with Darren Bent hoping for a debut after his first senior call-up.

The switch will be the only change to Eriksson's recent starting line-ups.

Captain David Beckham and Joe Cole should operate on the flanks between central midfield pairing Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Sol Campbell's latest injury absence after a season of setbacks means John Terry will keep his place in central defence alongside Rio Ferdinand, with the World Cup balance clearly swinging in the Chelsea captain's favour.

Gary Neville and Ashley Cole will take the wings, with Paul Robinson still keeping out former England keeper David James between the posts.

Injuries have forced Danish coach Morten OIsen into making some changes.

Captain Thomas Helveg, who moved to Borussia Monchengladbach from Norwich this summer, has been replaced by his teammate in the German Bundesliga club Kasper Bogelund.

Everton defender Per Kroldrup and AaB Aalborg's midfielder have been replaced by West Bromwich's Thomas Gaardsoe and Werder Bremen's Daniel Jensen respectively in a side in which most players have either played in England or still do.

Wednesday's game is a warm-up for two sides who will be in the thick of World Cup qualifiying action next month.

England are two points behind group leaders Poland, who have played a game more, and face a British double header away to the Welsh and Northern Ireland.

The Danes, are worse off in Group Two, which has been all but sewn up by Ukraine on 23 points.

Turkey are second on 16 points, followed by European champions Greece (15) and the Danes (12), who need to make the most of a game in hand on their rivals for a playoff place.

Denmark's mettle will be tested by their qualifier next month against Turkey in Istanbul, before the easier task of taking three points off Georgia in Copenhagen.

Denmark beat England 3-2 in their last meeting in a freindly at Old Trafford in 2003, but will be aware that they have never beaten England at home in seven meetings dating back to 1948 which have resulted in four wins for England and three draws.

Probable teams:

England: Paul Robinson; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole; David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole; Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe

Denmark: Thomas Sorensen, Per Nielsen, Daniel Agger, Brian Priske, Niclas Jensen, Chistian Poulsen, Claus Jensen, Thomas Gravesen, Jesper Gronkjaer, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Martin Jorgensen.

Referee: Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway)

That's all, folks!! For now...Ahahahakz!!

Laterz...
Lenny JC