England plays in the first of a pair of summer friendlies on Wednesday afternoon, while their adversaries Ireland have a bit of a longer summer set of fixtures in store. They'll play friendlies on either side of a World Cup qualifying match against the Faroe Islands, playing four matches in total between this game and June 11, when they meet Spain.
England vs. Ireland: Preview and TV schedule
For the first time in 18 years, England and Ireland meet in a friendly.
Mike Hewitt
Ireland have called in Robbie Keane from the LA Galaxy for these fixtures, as well as Toronto FC's Darren O'Dea. Playing England is apparently special enough for them to choose to miss multiple competitive fixtures. The only Ireland regular and possible starter that has been left home is Darron Gibson.
England have had a number of their best players pull out of the squad with injuries, including Steven Gerrard, Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverley. Their squad is still a strong one, and they'll be captained on the night by Ashley Cole. Phil Jones, Jack Rodwell, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge are the youngest players called into Roy Hodgson's team.
Match date/time: Wednesday, 8 p.m. local, 3 p.m. ET
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England
TV: ITV 1 (U.K.), FOX Soccer (U.S.), Sportsnet World (Canada)
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