England to play Egypt in friendly tie

London, Dec. 21: England will begin their countdown to next year’s World Cup with a friendly international against Egypt at London’s Wembley Stadium on March 3, the Football Association (FA) announced on Monday.

After this month’s draw in Cape Town, England manager Fabio Capello said he wanted the side to play against African opponents something they’ve yet to do under the Italian as Algeria will be one of their Group C rivals at next year’s finals in South Africa.

“We will play March 3 at Wembley, against Egypt, then we have to find the date to play against Mexico,” Capello said. “All the friendly games we played were against European teams. We have to play against South Americans and African teams with a different style,” he said.