Germany, England face old rivals

  Germany play France and England face Netherlands in two heavyweight clashes which highlight Wednesday's international friendlies across Europe.

   World champions Spain meet Venezuela, Italy take on the United States and Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland entertain Portugal.

   England go into the game against Netherlands at Wembley under caretaker manager Stuart Pearce, taking charge of the team for the first time since the resignation of Fabio Capello.

   Pearce must cope without experienced strikers Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent and will also have to name a new captain, with Liverpool's Steven Gerrard favourite to take over from the deposed John Terry who is also injured.

   Germany coach Joachim Loew has injury problems going into the game against France in Bremen, with captain Philipp Lahm and brothers Lars and Sven Bender ruled out.

   Spain play their final match before naming the squad for their European Championship defence and, having dropped Chelsea forward Fernando Torres, coach Vicente del Bosque may experiment by playing without a specialist striker against Venezuela in Malaga.

   Ireland play Czech Republic, Switzerland face Argentina, Denmark meet Russia and Croatia take on Sweden in other standout friendlies on Wednesday.

Arsenal to play City in Beijing on London opening day

  Arsenal and Manchester City will play a match in Beijing's 'Bird's Nest' Olympic Stadium on the day that London welcomes the world for this year's summer Games.

   The Premier League rivals said their first teams would play a one-off match for the inaugural 'China Cup' on July 27 with a local kick-off time of 2000 (1200 GMT), six-and-a-half hours before the London opening ceremony begins.

"It is...fitting that two English clubs are playing each other on the opening day of the London 2012 Olympics, in the stadium which hosted the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games," Arsenal's chief executive Ivan Gazidis said in a statement.

   It will be the second year in a row that the Gunners have travelled to China in the off-season, with Arsenal playing matches in Malaysia and China last year.

   League leaders City played in China in 2006, when they visited Shanghai under former boss Stuart Pearce with a team that included Chinese international defender Sun Jihai, but this will be the Abu Dhabi-owned club's first appearance in Beijing.

   The stadium, built for the 2008 Olympics, hosted the Italian Super Cup between AC Milan and city rivals Inter in front of more than 70,000 local fans last August.

   "We enjoy huge support in Asia and by playing a match in Beijing we will once again be bringing the club close to our loyal fans in China," Gazidis said.

   Wang Shuyan, president of promoters Beijing Winoly International Sports Culture Co, said the match was part of the company's strategic growth plan to bring top clubs and leagues to China.

   "Our focus is on elite, authentic football. Arsenal v Manchester City will undoubtedly be the highest quality EPL match ever in China," he said.