Another day - another trophy for Martin Skrtel
Liverpool’s Andre Wisdom and Conor Coady played in England Under 19’s 2-1 win over the Czech Republic, played at Leyton Orient.
It was the Under 19’s final friendly before they get started on the European Championship Elite Qualifying Round.
Coady played for an hour, whilst Wisdom played for the full game – and was involved in a couple of England’s chances.
Meanwhile at senior level, Glen Johnson returned to Melwood after picking up a minor injury ahead of England’s game against the Netherlands tomorrow. The FA have been tight lipped about the injury, believed to have been sustained in the morning’s training session, but suggestions are that he has returned to Liverpool as a precautionary measure.
Steven Gerrard and Stewart Downing remain with the national squad, and Stuart Pearce is expected to name a temporary captain alongside the line up shortly before kick off.
One man who will be wearing the captain’s armband for his country tomorrow is Craig Bellamy, who will take the honour for this game only.
Wales take on Costa Rica in Cardiff for the Gary Speed Memorial Match. There has been speculation that it could also be Craig Bellamy’s final international game – with new manager Chris Coleman admitting that he isn’t sure yet what Bellamy’s future plans will be.
Meanwhile Martin Skrtel was celebrating again last night. After being our Man of the Match at the weekend’s League Cup Final, he was awarded the Slovakian Player of the Year award for the third time. Skrtel will be in the Slovakian squad that takes on Turkey away at the Bursa-Ataturk Stadium.
Skrtel finished just 3 points ahead of Napoli’s Marek Hamsik in the voting and our big centre-back said:
“What can I say? Three points is just one vote. I won two trophies in two days. It’s fantastic.
“I still believe my best year is yet to come.
Eyes will also be on Argentina who take on Switzerland. Maxi Rodriguez managed to get himself back in to the Argentine squad for this clash.