The road to the 2014 World Cup continues tonight with a number of important European zone qualifiers that see former champions Germany, Italy and Spain all facing difficult assignments overseas.
Germany coach Joachim Loew takes his three-time champions to Dublin for their first meeting against Ireland since a 0-0 draw in 2007 during qualifying for Euro 2008.
Real Madrid playmaker Mesut Ozil has been their principal attacking threat so far, with three goals in Germany’s opening two matches – a 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands followed by a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Austria in Vienna.
Ireland captain Robbie Keane will miss the qualifier after aggravating an injury.
Keane had been unable to train for the last two days after his long-running Achilles problem flared up again following a tackle in a practice session earlier this week.
While the LA Galaxy striker has been ruled out, he is still in contention to feature in Tuesday’s trip to the Faroe Islands.
The 32-year-old, who has 54 international goals, will be replaced by one of Shane Long, Jon Walters or Simon Cox.
Keane was in line to win his 122nd cap today. His upset is the latest problem for Trapattoni’s injury-hit squad following the withdrawals earlier this week of Sean St Ledger, Glenn Whelan, Kevin Doyle and James McClean.
Italy have four points from two matches as they travel to Armenia in Group B, before returning to Milan and an equally important match against a Denmark team that drew 0-0 against the Czech Republic in their only match so far.
“I’m sure we won’t make the same mistakes as we did in September, but against Armenia we have to have commitment, because it will be a hard, physical encounter,” said Italy coach Cesare Prandelli.
Group B is one of the most open pools.
The Czechs are looking to return to the World Cup for the first time since their only appearance in 2006, while an improving Bulgaria team battled back to draw 2-2 against the Italians.
Michal Bilek’s Czech side host Malta before a big test next Tuesday, when Bulgaria visit Prague just days after hosting Denmark.
Defending champions Spain face another examination of their continuing reign at the top of the world ranking with a trip to Belarus.
La Roja will host France next Tuesday and Les Bleus’ new coach Didier Deschamps has already masterminded victories over Finland and Belarus to take his side to the top of Group I.
England begin life without John Terry as coach Roy Hodgson attempts to shake off the disappointment of a 1-1 home draw against Ukraine in what appears to be a straightforward home match against minnows San Marino.
In the absence of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, the team will be captained by Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.
Another of today’s biggest battles will be in Moscow, where Fabio Capello puts his perfect record as Russia coach on the line against Portugal.
Mendoza clash
After climbing three spots to fourth in the FIFA rankings, Argentina can further enhance their World Cup prospects when they host South America champions Uruguay as qualifying for Brazil 2014 continues tonight.
The showdown in Mendoza pits a pair of two-time World Cup winners together in what is the first meeting between the sides since Uruguay ousted Argentina on penalties in the quarter-finals of last summer’s Copa America.
Despite being held to a 1-1 draw in Peru last month, Argentina are unbeaten in their past five qualifiers and are top of the group with 14 points from seven matches, while Uruguay occupy the final automatic qualification spot as they lie fourth, two points behind.
Playing tonight: Bolivia vs Peru, Colombia vs Uruguay, Ecuador vs Chile, Argentina vs Uruguay.
Standings: Argentina 14; Colombia, Ecuador 13; Uruguay, Chile 12; Venezuela 11; Peru 7; Bolivia, Paraguay 4.
Today’s fixtures...
Macedonia vs Croatia 20.30
Serbia vs Belgium 20.30
Wales vs Scotland 20.45
Czech Republic vs Malta 18.00
Armenia vs Italy 19.00
Bulgaria vs Denmark 20.00
Kazakhstan vs Austria 18.00
Faroe Islands vs Sweden 18.00
Ireland vs Germany 20.45
Turkey vs Romania 19.30
Netherlands vs Andorra 20.30
Estonia vs Hungary 20.30
Albania vs Iceland 19.00
Switzerland vs Norway 20.30
Slovenia vs Cyprus 20.45
Russia vs Portugal 17.00
Luxembourg vs Israel 21.00
Liechtenstein vs Lithuania 19.30
Greece vs Bosnia 20.45
Slovakia vs Latvia 20.15
Moldova vs Ukraine 20.00
England vs San Marino 21.00
Finland vs Georgia 17.30
Belarus vs Spain 20.00
Playing Tuesday
Belarus vs Georgia; Spain vs France.