In a joint statement released outside of PMF House this afternoon by the managers of these five nations - Buck Hysen of England, Rich McRich of Scotland, Mick McCarthy of Ireland, Sammy McIlroy of Northern Ireland, and Mark Hughes of Wales - and will see all teams play on the same date, February 23rd. All five were happy with the friendlies organised in what will be an exciting day for football in the British Isles.

The biggest game of the weekend will surely be the re-joining of eternal rivals England and Germany, at the PMF National Stadium in London. Rudi Voller's men will be looking for revenge, as the English side has held the aces over them recently, and a capacity crowd is expected to watch Buck Hysen's men in only their second full international under the former Bradford City manager.

McRich, continuing in his dual role as head coach of Scotland and manager of PMF Division 1 club Sunderland, will again take control of the Scots as they travel to face the original Red Devils of Belgium, at the Koning Boudewijnstadion in Brussels. The controversial successor to the post Craig Brown left a few months ago will be looking on an improvement in his side's performance after a surprise 4-4 draw with Australia in November. Belgium were expected to be under control by assistant Marcelle O'Lippy for the first time since Alain Borl departed to join the PMF League. However, the Belgian FA have insisted that Borl carries on with his role in preparation for their teams World Cup build-up.

The Republic of Ireland will take on Portugal, according to McCarthy, and it's set to be another interesting battle. The Portuguese, with several headlining names like Figo and Rui Costa, forced the Irish into a tense play-off battle to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, and will travel to Lansdowne Road certain of a tough game. McCarthy's men will be looking for a good game as they prepare for their first World Cup Finals appearance since 1994.

Northern Ireland, perennial under-achievers, will be looking to fix this tag up with a rather tricky home tie against South American surprise packets Ecuador. McIlroy told reporters that he was "happy to be playing such a good side", but will come into the game wary of the fact that the unfancied Ecuadorans qualified for the World Cup in an incredible 3rd position in the tough South American qualifying section.

The final friendly, although not the biggest headline, is sure to create its own soon enough, as Wales make the 48-hour round trip to Melbourne to face Australia. Hughes will take his side 'Down Under' knowing that a good showing is required after a poor attempt to qualify for the World Cup finals, while Socceroos coach Frank Farina - who this week just signed a new deal to stay on in his role - will be looking to avenge his side's heart-breaking 3-1 aggregate loss to Uruguay.