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LONDON — The 16 teams at this year's European Championship continue their preparations for the summer showpiece when they take part in a round of international friendly matches on Wednesday.
It's one of the last chances for coaches to figure out whether players will fit into their squad before they select their final roster for the June 7-29 tournament in Austria and Switzerland.
And even players who won't be at the tournament have something to play for. David Beckham is hoping to make his 100th international appearance when England, which failed to qualify, plays at injury-hit France.
Brazil and the United States also visit Europe — playing Sweden and Poland, respectively.
In other matches between qualified teams, it's: Spain vs. Italy; Switzerland vs. Germany; Austria vs. Netherlands; Romania vs. Russia; and Portugal vs. Greece. Also, the Czech Republic is at Denmark, Croatia plays at Scotland and Turkey goes to Belarus.
Spain coach Luis Aragones called up Getafe midfielder Ruben De La Red into a largely unchanged squad for its match at Elche but also dropped FC Barcelona striker Bojan Krkic.
De La Red replaces David Albelda, who was left out by Aragones despite playing in Spain's 1-0 win over France in February. Barcelona defender Carles Puyol returns from injury, while Mallorca's Fernando Navarro was also called in to anchor the backline.
Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez — Spain's all-time leading scorer with 44 goals in 102 games — appeared no closer to returning in time for Euro 2008 after being left off again. Raul, who has scored 18 times this season, hasn't played for Spain since September 2006.
Alessandro Del Piero missed out on making Italy's squad, excluded from an attack that includes Marco Borriello and Luca Toni.
Borriello, who leads the scoring in Italy's Serie A with 17 goals, only made his debut in last month's 3-1 friendly win over Portugal, while coach Roberto Donadoni also called up Del Piero's backup at Juventus — Vincenzo Iaquinta.
Donadoni recalled Juventus pair Gianluigi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi to the squad after they missed the Portugal match with injury.
France's plans were hit by the withdrawal of strikers Karim Benzema, Thierry Henry and Louis Saha because of injury, although Juventus striker David Trezeguet now has a chance of pressing his claims for a place at Euro 2008 after being called up as a replacement.
France's third all-time scorer with 34 goals, Trezeguet was largely ineffective on his last appearance against Scotland six months ago and has annoyed coach Raymond Domenech by saying he would not consider playing for the B team.
Domenech had already called up four new players in midfielders Mathieu Bodmer and Mathieu Valbuena and defenders Mathieu Delpierre and Adil Rami.
"I wanted to broaden (the squad) completely," Domenech said. "I wanted the maximum number of players to keep my options open and to cover potential injuries."
England's preparations weren't helped by 12 players taking part in matches with their Premier League clubs on Sunday. England manager Fabio Capello said he "was not ecstatic" when he found out that Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were playing hours before the squad met.
Capello has also had to deal with interest surrounding Beckham's recall and the possibility he'll give the midfielder his 100th appearance for England.
"It is not my style to call up someone and do them a favour," said Capello, who had an often prickly relationship with Beckham when the two were at Real Madrid. "I understand the nation's obsession with Beckham, but I am not obsessed with him. I called him up because I believe he will be useful for the team."
Beckham missed Capello's first match in charge, a 2-1 friendly win over Switzerland on Feb. 6, because he wasn't playing regularly.
The Netherlands has a goalkeeping quandary. With regular 'keepers Edwin van der Sar and second-choice Maarten Stekelenburg out of the squad, coach Marco van Basten called up 21-year-old rookie Piet Velthuizen, who will vie with 36-year-old Henk Timmer to start against Austria in Vienna.
The Dutch are strengthened by the return of Clarence Seedorf, Andre Oojer and Robin van Persie from injury, but striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is recovering from ankle surgery and PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Afellay pulled out because of a nagging ankle injury that flared up at the weekend.
Coach Marco van Basten will not draft a replacement into his squad, which was reduced to 20 players by Afellay's absence.
Portugal could also have a goalkeeping problem since Ricardo Oliveira could miss the match against Greece because of a shoulder injury which caused him to sit out a game for Spanish team Real Betis at the weekend. It's a rematch of the 2004 European Championship final, which Greece won 1-0.
Chelsea central defender Ricardo Carvalho could also miss out because he needs tests on a head injury he sustained during Sunday's Premier League game with Arsenal.
Other friendly matches include: Ukraine vs. Serbia; Bulgaria vs. Finland; Montenegro vs. Norway; Hungary vs. Slovenia; Estonia vs. Canada; and Slovakia vs. Iceland.
