Today's friendlies

Getting down to it now, aren't they? Even Brazil are on the field. Today's menu (World Cup finals teams in bold):

Poland vs Serbia: For Serbia, Saturday's 1-0 loss to New Zealand was just a friendly, albeit with some extra juice in the form of a few drunken fans throwing flares and a Jim Beam bottle - Kiwi coach Ricki Herbert called it his team's all-time best result. Serbia has one more tuner after this one so there's no need to panic as they continue their Austrian camp. Look for midfield regulars Stankovic, Krasic and Jovanovic to get a good run after being rested in that first tuner.

Greece vs Paraguay: Paraguay came back with two late goals to draw with Ivory Coast on Sunday, showing how dangerous they can be on the attack and it looks like their Argentine-born Lucas Barrios has found a role with two goals in 110 minutes the last two friendlies. Greece wheeled out a nearly first-string midfield and forward line in drawing 2-2 with North Korea last week. This one in Switzerland is the final tuneup for both teams, and they’ll both want to show better defensively.

Honduras vs Azerbaijan. Honduras finish up with one more in Vienna after this, and expect midfield mainstays Wilson Palacios and former TFCer Amado Guevara to get some decent minutes.

Zimbabwe vs Brazil. Finally Brazil makes an appearance, at Harare, their first exhibition since beating Ireland in March and predictably, they've attracted quite a crowd. They’ll get one more after this, against Tanzania on Monday.

Thursday

Italy vs Mexico (at Brussels)
Spain vs South Korea (at Innsbruck)
Germany vs Bosnia-Herzegovina (at Frankfurt)