England vs Slovakia

We play Slovakia at Wembley today. In many many ways it doesn’t matter. What matters is Wednesday and Ukraine and World Cup qualifying points. But after the defeat to Spain burst our little bubble last month, we can at least use this Slovakia game to get back on track.

The big thing here – if you care about such things – is David Beckham’s neverending quest for international caps. If he plays today (and I think he will) then Becks will reach 109 appearances, making him England’s most capped outfield player (Peter Shilton is still way ahead with 125).

The other big thing is – forgive me – Gerrard and Lampard. This is the first time in a while that they’ve both been fit. I’ve had enough of the “can they play together?” debate, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Capello decides to do with them.

But the biggest thing – possibly the main reason for this game being played at all – is the unveiling of the new England shirt, which will be seen in public for the first time when the players step out at Wembley.

Umbro have made a ridiculously big deal about it, and I know of at least one newspaper and one blog that posted images only to have them taken down. As if the new England shirt was some sort of classified government secret.

But at 5:15pm GMT today, at least all the hype will be over.

Here’s the starting XI:

James, Johnson, Cole, Barry, Upson, Terry, Lennon, Lampard, Gerrard, Heskey, Rooney.

Looks like Gerrard on the left, although he’ll probably do some wandering.