England are set to take on Slovakia, a nation they have met twice before.

England v Slovakia
International Match
5.15pm, Saturday 28 March 2009
Wembley Stadium

Fabio Capello's England warm up for their crucial FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifier against Ukraine with an intriguing Wembley friendly against Slovakia four days earlier.

Vladimir Weiss's Slovak squad, known as "The Fighting Jondas", includes several players currently with English clubs. Martin Skrtel is a key defender for Liverpool, starring in their recent Champions League demolition of Real Madrid.

They also have Marek Cech at West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea teenager Miroslav Stoch and Bristol City's Peter Styvar. They are an in-form team too, presently topping the FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifying Group 3 table by two points from Northern Ireland.

Czechoslovakia was divided into Slovakia and Czech Republic in 1993 and both countries now feature in the same group, as they did for the last European Championship

England have met Slovakia twice before, but this will be the Slovaks' first appearance at Wembley. Sven's England opened their qualifying campaign for Euro 2004 with a valuable 2-1 victory in Bratislava in October 2002, coming from behind to take all three points courtesy of two priceless goals from skipper David Beckham and Michael Owen.

It was the biggest game in Slovakia's short history and, inspired by the fanatical enthusiasm of 30,000 home supporters in the Slovan Bratislava Stadium, Ladislav Jurkemik's team tested England on a surface that was tricky after two days of incessant rain.

Middlesbrough's Szilard Nemeth shot the Slovaks in front on 24 minutes, but England fought back to triumph - and they won the return eight months later at Riverside Stadium too. Janocko's free-kick gave the visitors a 31st-minute lead before Michael Owen scored twice, the first a penalty, to clinch the points. That night Owen became, at 23 years 179 days, the youngest player to reach 50 England caps.