Can Maradona make Argentina punch their weight like back in '86?

The football great, whose 'Hand of God' goal against England 22 years ago helped Argentina to a World Cup triumph, is now trying to work his magic from the bench and starts out against Scotland in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Powerhouses of Europe and South America break off from World Cup qualifying this week either to maintain form or experiment with new players.

A Europe-based schedule includes 25 friendly games and a single World Cup qualifier between San Marino and the Czech Republic in Group 3.

The Czechs, second-bottom in the group, need to win the game to make ground on pacesetters Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia.

Trying his hand

Maradona is the latest to try his hand at what should be one of the best jobs in world football but has turned out to be one of the toughest.

A series of coaches have failed to lift a hugely talented Argentina squad to World Cup success - and now it's the turn of the nation's greatest player.

He arrived in Glasgow on Sunday ahead of the match at Hampden Park and now he waits to see which of his stars – from Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez to Juan Roman Riquelme – will arrive fit for the game.

England are riding high after winning their first four World Cup qualifying games.

Head coach Fabio Capello wants to maintain that form, having inherited a team low in confidence after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.

Faith restored

"The players have faith in their ability and potential," he said.

"We have worked a lot at removing insecurity and fear. The improvement has been consistent, game after game.

"There are no limits for this England."

Capello is forced to face the Germans in Berlin without several injured stars, including Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard – although he has still asked the player to report to the training camp.

He has also chosen to leave out striker Michael Owen because of a lack of fitness and form and David Beckham because he has been inactive since the LA Galaxy's failure to reach the USA's MLS playoffs.

Historic fixture

Owen celebrates a famous hat-trick in Germany in 2001

England-Germany matches have a rich history of drama, disputed goals and amazing comebacks.

The 1966 World Cup final saw England win 4-2 in controversial fashion, while West Germany came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the 1970 quarter-finals.

England's last result to savour was a 5-1 World Cup qualifying result in Munich under Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2001.

Despite the stakes, Capello has called up Chelsea's 19-year-old defender Michael Mancienne, who has never played in the English Premier League and is on loan to second division leaders Wolves.

Germany coach Joachim Loew has had disputes with Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings over the extent of their injuries, and neither will face England.

"England is the team of the moment," said Loew, who led his side to a comfortable 2-1 victory at Wembley in August 2007 when a floundering Steve McClaren was in charge of the Three Lions.

"They have left an incredibly strong impression (under Capello), compact, moving quickly forward, technically very good. I haven't seen such a strong England team for a long time."

Del Piero dropped

World Cup holders Italy go to former European champions Greece without Alessandro del Piero, even though the veteran striker scored three of Juventus' four goals in two Champions League victories over Real Madrid.

With 27 goals, he is Italy's most active scorer and eight short of Luigi Riva's national record of 35.

Del Piero in action for Juve [EPA]

Coach Marcello Lippi, who led Italy to their fourth World Cup triumph in 2006, says he has not rejected Del Piero but wants to experiment with less experienced players such as Giuseppe Rossi and Simone Pepe.

Among the other highlight games are Brazil v Portugal, France against Uruguay, Netherlands against Sweden and European champions Spain at home to Chile.

Brazil coach Dunga, under fire because the team is lagging behind Paraguay in World Cup qualifying, has again left Ronaldinho out of the squad even though he has returned to goalscoring form with AC Milan.

Bayern Munich defender Lucio pulled out of the game in Brasilia with an undisclosed injury on Sunday.

Sweden coach Lars Lagerback has allowed Zlatan Ibrahamovic and defender Olof Mellberg to miss the game against the Dutch because of the rigours of playing for their Italian clubs.

"Zlatan has played two games a week during a long period," Lagerback said.

"Olof also wants to rest from a recent intensive game and travel schedule. Therefore we have assessed that it is better for both of them and for the national team if they get time off."

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