England vs. Netherlands: 6 Players with Euro 2012 Points to Prove in Friendly

England's friendly against the Dutch on Wednesday at Wembley was not meant to have the level of significance it has now been given.

Originally scheduled for August, but postponed because of the U.K. riots that month, the rescheduled fixture was supposed to be one final test for Fabio Capello's side against top opposition, with the Italian fine-tuning his preparations for Euro 2012.

Following Capello's resignation three weeks ago, that is no longer the case.

Now England face an uncertain future so close to a major tournament, with Capello's former assistant, Stuart Pearce, placed in caretaker charge with no word as yet on who will lead England in Poland and Ukraine come June.

With the absences of Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Jack Wilshere, Darren Bent, Kyle Walker, Glen Johnson and Tom Cleverley due to injury, along with the omissions of Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, Pearce has certainly been thrown an odd curve ball in his selection process.

Here are six players who have points to prove against the 2010 World Cup finalists.

Robert Green

The most recent of Green's 11 England caps included the incident which will almost certainly come to define his career long after he hangs up his gloves.

In England's first match at the 2010 World Cup, Green somehow contrived to spill Clint Dempsey's tame shot into his own net, leading to a 1-1 draw with the US.

Since that fateful evening in Rustenburg, Green has been in the international wilderness and Joe Hart has inherited the No.1 spot.

While Green—or any other English keeper—has almost no hope of displacing Hart, he has been back to some of his best form for Championship leaders West Ham.

A solid 45 minutes against top opposition would do much to exorcise Green's demons and perhaps help reestablish himself as a viable option going forward.

Micah Richards

Perhaps it is because he is likely to only be in charge for one match, and England are in something of a state of flux, but Pearce's squad selection has not been held up to much scrutiny in the English press.

He has omitted Lampard and Ferdinand because, as he claims, he will not learn anything new by playing them, but he has picked No.1 keeper Hart and left-back stalwart Ashley Cole.

He also selected five players who are capable of playing at right-back. With the withdrawals of Walker and Johnson, surely now is the time for Micah Richards to finally grab his chance.

The Manchester City defender has been inexplicably overlooked for too long. Now is his moment to show just why he is a first-teamer for the Premier League leaders, and why he should have amassed much more than his paltry haul of 12 caps since his '06 debut.

Gareth Barry

It is hard to believe that, less than two years ago, Barry's health and fitness for the World Cup was seen as crucial to England's chances.

He won his battle, but he did not prove himself the missing link he was professed to be in South Africa. The ease with which Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller scampered past him in the second-round defeat to Germany was highly symbolic of England's inferiority to Joachim Loew's young, vibrant side.

Barry has for the most part maintained his place in the squad since then, and has even captained the team.

However, despite that, and being another club regular, he will have many doubters in the crowd at Wembley he will be aiming to prove wrong.

Theo Walcott

Even though he scored two goals in Arsenal's extraordinary 5-2 comeback derby win over Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend, it couldn't obscure the fact that the rest of his performance was as poor as the rest of his season.

Walcott himself will point to the five goals and seven assists he has registered in the league for the Gunners—many have which have been for Robin van Persie—as proof that he is still effective.

However, in an England shirt, he has never come close to matching the heights of his hat-trick performance against Croatia back in 2008.

With Aaron Lennon omitted, and Adam Johnson in and out of both club and international play, a strong showing against the Dutch would serve his Euro 2012 prospects very well indeed.

Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge has been pegged for a long while as the striker most likely to make a late run into the squad come Euro time. Handing him a full international debut may well have been the last significant act of Capello's reign.

Last season he scored eight goals in just 12 league appearances while on loan at Bolton, and he has brought that form back to Chelsea . 

He has scored nine goals in the Premier League this term. Only four Englishmen have scored more: Wayne Rooney (17), Frank Lampard, Danny Graham and Grant Holt (all 10).

Rooney is one of the first names on any England manager's team sheet (when not hurt or suspended), Lampard is a midfielder, and it will take a Herculean effort for either Swansea's Graham or Norwich's Holt to make the cut at this late stage.

Sturridge has scored those goals while deployed on the right of a front three for Chelsea, and he has made it known that he would like to adopt the central role currently handed to Fernando Torres (two league goals this season) or Didier Drogba (four).

If he can show his mettle in the middle at international level, he will strengthen his case for doing so at  club level.  

Fraizer Campbell

Campbell was certainly the surprise selection of this squad, as the Sunderland striker has only recently returned after being shelved 18 months due to injury. But after six games in the space of a month, he finds himself on the verge of receiving his first England cap.

There are contributing factors to his inclusion. Pearce has worked extensively with Campbell during his time as manager for England's U-21 side, having handed him 14 caps for the youth side between March 2008 and June 2009.

The former Manchester United trainee also returned from his lengthy lay-off with something of a bang, scoring an excellent goal on his first game back in the FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough, before netting another fine effort three days later against Norwich.

Of course, goals in back-to-back games is hardly the sole hallmark of an international player. Many have questioned Pearce's judgement, and with good reason. For one thing, Campbell has not scored in his last four matches, and the chances of him ending up in the final tournament (by whoever is in charge) are slim to none.

In the face of such unanimous decry of his selection, Campbell would truly silence those critics with a goal in his full debut. Even if that is his only taste of senior international football, he can keep his pride.

Who knows, he might even do enough to sneak a place on the plane (he won't).