Egypt is scheduled to play England in a football friendly on 3 March in preparation for the World Cup, at least for England. In the World Cup, England is grouped with Algeria, the US and Slovenia. England chose to play with Egypt, which last month won the Africa Cup of Nations for a record third time, to get more acquainted with North African football. Egypt, led by coach Hassan Shehata, was knocked out of the World Cup after losing to Algeria in a tense qualifier in Sudan last November. It will be the first time Egypt plays in Wembley, one of word football's oldest and most famous stadiums. England beat Egypt 1-0 in the group stage of the 1990 World Cup held in Italy. The goal was scored by Mark Wright. Four years earlier the Three Lions blanked Egypt 4-0 in Cairo in a friendly. The game will be the only preparation match for Fabio Capello's England before the World Cup begins in South Africa in June. Wednesday's game is likely to be officiated by a 'continent-neutral' referee during the FIFA tournament in South Africa, and to that end FA has invited Paraguayan referee Carlos Manuel Torres to take the whistle against Egypt. This is intended to assist the preparations for playing with a non-European referee in charge of the match. Torres started refereeing for Paraguay's top federation APF in 1990 and received his FIFA badge in 1998. He officiated in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and the 2007 Copa America. Torres was on the original shortlist of 54 referees for the World Cup but lost out to his fellow countryman Carlos Amarilla. Though Torres will be disappointed not to be heading to South Africa, that fact permits him to officiate this friendly game, as referees who have been selected for the World Cup finals are not permitted to referee teams who have qualified. Torres will be assisted by Miciades Zaldivar and Rodney Aquino.
