Friday's friendlies

Sure these games don't mean anything. Tell that to Raymond Domenech. (Update: Tell that to the North Koreans trying to sneak in an extra attacker):

France vs China: At Reunion, it's one last friendly and still no idea of the backline plan for France coach Domenech. William Gallas is ailing again and likely not available - not that China will provide much in the way of testing opposition - and then it’s time to start the countdown to a nervous opening night fixture against Uruguay. They really could use something emphatic here for a confidence boost, but don’t expect Thierry Henry to provide a spark. Henry is that far out of sight.

Nigeria vs North Korea:
 Last call for Nigeria, coming in to this Jo’burg encounter off two subpar showings, so expect Swede coach Lars Lagerback to start his preferred XI. Key man John Obi Mikel of Chelsea only started training last week and has yet to see action since his April knee injury - if they can get a good run out of him with no after-effects, they’ll be breathing easier. As for North Korea, nobody knows much. Today's fascinating fact: one of their better players is nicknamed Acorn Head.

Slovenia vs New Zealand: Kiwis come in on a high after beating Serbia, and will leave for South Africa after this one at Maribor. Slovenia doesn’t believe in heavy preparation evidently, this being their first and only friendly scheduled before the World Cup. They haven’t played together since drilling Qatar in March.

Japan vs Ivory Coast: In their last three exhibitions Japan has been outscored 7-1, so forget about getting a result here in Switzerland - they really would like to keep this close, and thus take some smidge of what’s left of their confidence into the World Cup. New Ivory Coast manager Sven-Goran Eriksson wants to clean up some of the late mistakes that cost them in their last exhibition. For both teams, this is their last stop before the finals.