Tuesday International Friendlies: England Vs. Sweden, Italy Vs. Uruguay And More

Coming off of a victory over the United States of America, France look to continue their unbeaten run. Laurent Blanc's side have yet to lose in 2011 and a victory at the Stade de France against Belgium would close the book on a perfect 2011. 

However, Belgium will have other ideas and should be full of confidence after a 2-1 win over Romania last week. Belgium earned a victory in their last trip to France, way back in the 2002 World Cup Qualifying, and will be looking for a similar result today.

Belgium will see stars Thomas Vermaelen and Eden Hazard return to the lineup, but will be without Genk midfielder Kevin De Bruyne who picked up an illness prior to the trip to Paris. Additionally, goalkeeper Thibault Courtois could be in line to make his international debut. The strongest portion of the Belgian side is, arguably, the defense which features Vincent Company and Vermaelen in the center with Jan Vertonghen sitting in front of them.

France will most likely stick to the 4-4-2 formation that Blanc ran out against the USA. Kevin Gamiero will probably be dropped in favor of Loic Remy, who will partner Karim Benzema in attack. Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye seems to have recovered from a knock and could feature in central midfield for Les Bleus. Additionally, Eric Abidal returns to the defense and Hugo Lloris could find himself on the bench in favor of Steve Mandanna as Blanc attempts to find his strongest squad ahead of Euro 2012.

France struggled without a midfield playmaker against the USA and they may well continue to struggle in this match. The potential return of Cabaye is a big boost, but Belgium boast a talented midfield capable of dominating the French. The Red Devils will likely field Marouane Fellaini, Steven Defour, and Axel Witsel in a three-man midfield, which will likely cause the French problems. 

On paper this match could well be a preview of the Euro 2012 finals. However, given the rash of injuries and absentees for both sides, particularly Holland, this game has lost a bit of its luster. Some of the big names we will not be seeing in this match include Rafael Van der Vaart, Robin Van Persie, and Arjen Robben for the Dutch; and Bastien Schweinsteiger and Phillip Lamm for the Germans.

Both Germany and Netherlands enter this match on the back of rather disappointing draws for the two countries. Germany had to fight back in order to earn a 3-3 draw with Ukraine; while the Netherlands and Switzerland fought to a scoreless draw. 

German manager Joachim Loew played a younger, less experienced side against Ukraine, but will now recall some of his more experience internationals for this match. Manuel Neuer, Miroslav Klose, and Per Mertesacker should all start. Also, Thomas Mueller and Lucas Podolski, who both made late substitution appearances against Ukraine, should feature from the start. 

Without Van Persie, Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk will turn to Klaas Jan-Huntelaar to lead the line against the German defense, but the Schalke striker will likely have to wear a mask to protect his broken nose. It will be interesting to see if the injury and the mask affect the target striker's play. The Clockwork Orange, unlike Germany, did not rest their star players against the Swiss, but the likes of Wesley Sneijer and Dirk Kuyt are both still fit and ready to go.

Both of these teams are very strong sides, but it's the Dutch that hold the advantage in this international rivalry. Germany have not beaten Holland in 15 years, but with this game being played in Hamburg that could be a streak that will come to an end today.

It was only 17 months ago that the United States and Slovenia squared off on a much bigger stage. It was at the World Cup and a match that got more than enough attention in South Africa thanks to a thrilling comeback by the Americans that should have resulted in a win, but instead was only good enough for a draw because Koman Coulibaly waved off what appeared to be a perfectly good game-winning goal for reasons that he has yet to explain.

The U.S. has undergone some huge changes since then though. They've brought in Jurgen Klinsmann to lead the team and he has the team playing very differently with some very different players. He's emphasized possession and has spoken of an attack-minded team. That hasn't really come about, at least not the attack-minded part. Until Friday's 1-0 loss to France, Klinsmann's side had regularly won possession and done well to knock the ball around, but they couldn't turn it into chances. They were ineffective in the attack and spent an incredible amount of time standing and watching when not on the ball.

Chances are going to be even harder to come by against Slovenia. They're one of the better defensive teams in Europe and will put numbers behind the ball, meaning that unless the U.S. is going to flash some sort of creativity that they've been completely without under Klinsmann, they'll have to be deadly on the counter-attack and on set pieces. Unfortunately, they haven't been the slightest bit dangerous on either of those lately.

Meanwhile, the Americans will be troubled defensively too. Slovenia isn't the most high-powered of teams, but they do have their threats. Tim Matavz is one of the best young strikers in the world and will be able to take advantage of any lapses along the U.S. back line, either in the air or getting in behind the defense on long balls over the top, which troubled the U.S. against France. Additionally, the Slovenians are very good on the counter-attack, meaning that they have to maintain their shape in a system they are still getting used to.

Exactly who Klinsmann will turn to is still in question. Both Maurice Edu and Danny Williams have been somewhere between average and awful for the U.S., possibly opening the door for Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson, but what seems logical and what Klinsmann does haven't exactly been the same. There's als a question at center back, where it could be the Carlos Bocanerga and Clarence Goodson pairing we saw against France, but Oguchi Onyewu (recently cleared after an injury) or Michael Orozco Fiscal could get a look. 

Whoever Klinsmann chooses, the U.S. needs to show they can put out fires at the back and show some semblance or cohesion going forward. Goals or not, the Americans need to show they are capable of creating more chances because while France is a good team, the U.S. didn't create a single good chance in Paris and that is unacceptable. They also could have given up three or four if not for some sloppy finishing and Tim Howard's heroics. Slovenia isn't quite the team that France is, giving them a chance to open things up a bit and show some real improvement. 

Klinsmann has said several times that he isn't so considered with results. Wins and losses don't really mean much and considering he has only played friendlies, the results don't really matter so he has a valid point, but while results might not be important, growth is. Klinsmann has just two FIFA international dates left to get his U.S. team to grow and build before June's World Cup qualifiers, meaning his team has to make the most of those two matches, the first of which is Tuesday against Slovenia.