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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

England vs Portugal, international friendly 2016: Today


Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney
Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney during a training session ahead of their friendly against Portugal at Wembley on Thursday (2 June)Getty
England host Portugal at the Wembley Stadium for their final warm-up ahead of Euro 2016 on Thursday (2 June).
Where to watch live
Kick-off is set for 7.45pm BST. Live coverage of the game in the UK is on ITV1. Radio commentary will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Overview
England take on Portugal in their final warm-up game ahead of their Euro 2016 campaign, which gets underway when they take on Russia in their opening group B clash on 11 June (Saturday) and Roy Hodgson could give an indication as to his preferred starting XI for the tournament. The Three Lions boss has named his final 23-man squad and Marcus Rashford is the surprise call-up to the squad following the Manchester United starlet's stellar domestic campaign and impressive debut against Australia.
Hodgson has admitted that the FA chose Portugal as an opponent to put themselves to test against Cristiano Ronaldo, in order to prepare for their clash against Wales, who are in the same group and boast one of the best players in the world in Gareth Bale. The three-time Ballon d'Or winner, however, will be missing when the two teams meet at Wembley on Thursday, as he was given time off by the manager following Real Madrid's recent triumph in the Champions League.
The Euro 2008 finalists will also be keen to test themselves against one of the top teams without their talisman, who is a big part of their team going into every tournament. This game will give the rest of the squad an opportunity to show that they are not a one-man team ahead of their first Euro 2016 clash against Iceland on 14 June.
What managers say
Roy Hodgson: "This group of players know and have accepted very well that when you are on England duty, you are on England duty. We are not trying to block players' futures or transfers, but as far as we are concerned, our ongoing theme is 'England's England, your club's your club'. When you're with England, we want you to stay focused on us."
Fernando Santos: The England game will be a great test for us and important for the coach to understand his best team going to the Euros. It is very important for us to know Ronaldo has won the Champions League. He will arrive with higher morale. He is the most important player for us and he will be even better with this title behind him."
Betting odds (Betfair)
  • England win: 1
  • Draw: 11/5
  • Portugal win: 3
Team news
England
Possible XI: Hart; Clyne, Cahill, Smalling, Rose; Dier, Wilshere, Sterling, Rooney, Vardy; Kane
Australia
Possible XI: Lopes; Cedric, Fonte, R Carvalho, Guerreiro; Mario, W Carvalho, Sanches; Quaresma, Eder, Nani
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