MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - Two months on from their 3-1 victory over Holland at Euro 2008, Russia are to take on the Dutch again Wednesday - this time in Moscow in a friendly ahead of the start of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The euro decline to near its lowest level in six months against the dollar on concern that growth in the 15-nation economy is weakening.

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The euro fell to near a six-month low against the dollar on renewed concern that economic growth in the region is weakening.

England play the Czech Republic today in their last ‘friendly’ before the World Cup 2010 qualifiers begin.

The time for experimentation is over and the team you’ll see lining up for England tonight will in all likelihood be 80-90 percent the same as the one set to line up against Andorra and Croatia in September (see all England qualifying fixtures here).

You know the players - if you were Fabio Capello, who would you pick as the right-sided midfielder for England tonight: David Beckham or David Bentley?

Tell us who and why in the comments.

"Bentley v Beckham - which David would you pick for England?" was originally published at Soccerlens.com - Football News.

1899 Hoffenheim scored 20 goals past lower league opposition SC Reilingen in a friendly on Tuesday.

Now that’s probably not better than what Australia did a few years ago but it does have a lesson in it somewhere?

Is it:

Pick your pre-season opponents really carefully to boost your team’s confidence (Arsenal)?
Rotate for maximum effect (Liverpool)?
Have a rich owner (Chelsea)?

Probably all 3. All they need to do now is to actually win something - no pressure, eh? Somehow I don’t think Klinsmann is going to get worried just yet.

Also see: Raphael Honingstein (Guardian) on Bundesliga (some of it on Hoffenheim).

"Hoffenheim score 20 in a game - what can English teams learn from them?" was originally published at Soccerlens.com - Football News.

Less than two months after Spain were crowned as the best team in Europe, the continent's big guns take to the stage anew Wednesday for friendly tests as they finalise preparations for their 2010 World Cup qualifiying campaign.

Euro 2008 boosts CE sales PC Retail, UK - 1 hour ago German sales of consumer electronics have continued to grow at a strong pace, boosted in part by its participation in Euro 2008, according to GfK's TEMAX ...

Petr Cech is expecting a tough return to international football on Wednesday night against England following his costly blunder for the Czech Republic at Euro 2008.

Sepp Blatter was happy to call Ronaldo a ‘modern-day slave’ when asked about Manchester United’s refusal to let the player follow his ‘dream’ to play for Real Madrid.

Now that Real have done the same for Robinho and ‘killed’ his ‘dream’ to move to Chelsea (to Ronaldo’s credit he took it like a man and best of all his agent kept out of it - not so with Robinho’s agent, who’s been doing the talking on Robinho’s behalf), does Sepp Blatter, an honorary Real Madrid member, recipient of the club’s gold and diamond award, one who calls Real Madrid ‘more than just a club’ (hat tip to Tim Stannard), now think that Robinho is a modern-day slave?

Are Real Madrid slavers, Mr Blatter?

"So Mr. Blatter - are Real Madrid slavers too?" was originally published at Soccerlens.com - Football News.

TOKYO, Japan -- The dollar turned higher against the euro and the yen in Asian trade on Wednesday after a brief sell-off sparked by fresh worries about the health of the US economy, dealers said.