Premier League Ponderings: The cost of friendlies is too high
As we loom ever closer to
2014, the year of the next World
Cup, the list of 32 teams to compete
has yet to be finalized, and
many of the Premier Leagues
best have jetted out to all corners
of the world so they can help
their country make the final necessary
steps to the biggest stage
in sport.
Don't get me wrong, international football has the potential to be some of the best football that a fan can have the pleasure of viewing, especially when there is a place at the World Cup on the line, the finest example being David Beckham scoring a crucial long-range, last-minute free kick against Greece to send England to the 2002 World Cup, and 12-year-old me into my first true moment of sports joy. The playoff matches for the final spots at next year's showpiece has the potential to bring forth dramatic moments of their own, as some of the world's best players still have not led their countries to glory.
On the flipside of the league break that comes with World Cup qualifying, however, comes a mind-boggling event that many coaches, pundits, and myself have a massive problem with: international friendlies.
On the surface, a friendly is a chance for managers to decide who will be joining him on the plane to Brazil next year, and for the supporters of each nation to watch their heroes lock horns with another country's best.
In reality, however, an international friendly is nothing more than a pointless and risky exercise in football arrogance, with nothing tangible to gain and so much to lose. Every international break I join the millions of club supporters in holding our breath and hoping that one of our best players is not one of the dozens who are injured in every round of these glorified exhibition matches. The problem that I have with international friendlies can be perfectly summed up by what transpired during the second half of Germany's recent 1- 1 draw with Italy, and the injury that was suffered by midfielder Sami Khedira.
Hospitalized following a tackle from Andrea Pirlo, scans showed that Khedira suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament, ruling him out for the rest of the season, and even putting him at risk of missing the World Cup that his country has already secured its spot at, all during a match that literally means nothing. Now a talented player has suffered an injury that many past players have never truly recovered from and the club that he represents and pays his wages has been robbed of his services, leaving them short of a crucial first-team player.
Rarely does an international break go by without a club manager calling for the abolishment of friendlies, feeling that the potential risk to their players is too great for too little reward, and I can't help but agree every time I hear it.
Khedira's injury is just the latest example of the pointlessness of these “friendlies,” in which players play just as hard as they would if the World Cup trophy was on the line, and the reason that I feel they are one of the silliest aspects of this sport we all love.
Don't get me wrong, international football has the potential to be some of the best football that a fan can have the pleasure of viewing, especially when there is a place at the World Cup on the line, the finest example being David Beckham scoring a crucial long-range, last-minute free kick against Greece to send England to the 2002 World Cup, and 12-year-old me into my first true moment of sports joy. The playoff matches for the final spots at next year's showpiece has the potential to bring forth dramatic moments of their own, as some of the world's best players still have not led their countries to glory.
On the flipside of the league break that comes with World Cup qualifying, however, comes a mind-boggling event that many coaches, pundits, and myself have a massive problem with: international friendlies.
On the surface, a friendly is a chance for managers to decide who will be joining him on the plane to Brazil next year, and for the supporters of each nation to watch their heroes lock horns with another country's best.
In reality, however, an international friendly is nothing more than a pointless and risky exercise in football arrogance, with nothing tangible to gain and so much to lose. Every international break I join the millions of club supporters in holding our breath and hoping that one of our best players is not one of the dozens who are injured in every round of these glorified exhibition matches. The problem that I have with international friendlies can be perfectly summed up by what transpired during the second half of Germany's recent 1- 1 draw with Italy, and the injury that was suffered by midfielder Sami Khedira.
Hospitalized following a tackle from Andrea Pirlo, scans showed that Khedira suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament, ruling him out for the rest of the season, and even putting him at risk of missing the World Cup that his country has already secured its spot at, all during a match that literally means nothing. Now a talented player has suffered an injury that many past players have never truly recovered from and the club that he represents and pays his wages has been robbed of his services, leaving them short of a crucial first-team player.
Rarely does an international break go by without a club manager calling for the abolishment of friendlies, feeling that the potential risk to their players is too great for too little reward, and I can't help but agree every time I hear it.
Khedira's injury is just the latest example of the pointlessness of these “friendlies,” in which players play just as hard as they would if the World Cup trophy was on the line, and the reason that I feel they are one of the silliest aspects of this sport we all love.
