Ballack blow for Germany

Calf injury
The FC Bayern München midfield player has pulled out of the friendly with Italy in Stuttgart after missing his club's Bundesliga game with VfL Bochum 1848 on Saturday with a niggling calf injury. After consulting with the Bayern medical staff, Germany coach Rudi Völler decided to allow the 26-year-old to remain in Munich for treatment.

Eighth absentee
Ballack's absence adds to Völler's selection worries. The coach is already missing BV Borussia Dortmund's Christoph Metzelder, Arne Friedrich of Hertha BSC Berlin and Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Jens Nowotny in defence. Midfield players Torsten Frings and Dietmar Hamann are also unavailable, while Jörg Böhme and Christian Ziege have long-term injuries.

Mexes missing
Meanwhile, AJ Auxerre defender Philippe Mexes is sidelined for France's friendly against Switzerland with a foot problem, an injury he sustained on Saturday during his side's 3-2 league win against RC Strasbourg.

De Boer setback
Another high-profile casualty is Rangers FC's Ronald de Boer, who dropped out of the Netherlands squad on Sunday evening after picking up an achilles injury in the Scottish Premier League champions' 3-2 victory at Aberdeen FC. It is uncertain how long the 33-year-old will be out of action, but he has definitely been ruled out of the Benelux derby with Belgium on Wednesday in Brussels.

Finland forced into changes
Finland coach Antti Muurinen has been forced to make five changes to his squad ahead of Wednesday's game with Denmark, with Southampton FC goalkeeper Antti Niemi remaining with his club to regain full fitness after a knee injury, and Teuvo Moilanen replacing him. Skipper Jari Litmanen is another absentee with an achilles injury, and is joined on the sidelines by Sami Hyypiä, Teemu Tainio and Petri Pasanen, who are all suffering with minor injuries. Shefki Kuqi, Markus Heikkinen, Miika Koppinen and Juuso Kangaskorpi will deputise.

Two withdrawals
Everton FC's Lee Carsley and Steven Reid of Blackburn Rovers FC have both withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad for the match against Australia with knee ligament and ankle injuries respectively.

Israel replacements
Israel coach Avraham Grant has released Eyal Berkovic and Yaniv Katan from his party ahead of the trip to Russia, and has called up Shimon Gershon and Omri Afek in their place.

Qualifying news
As well as Wednesday's friendlies there are also two UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifiers the same day, with Group 9 leaders Wales hoping to extend their advantage with a positive result in Serbia and Montenegro, and the Faroe Islands facing Iceland in Group 5. Click here for the latest injury news on the Wales match.