Do We Really Need the International Break?

Tonight, on ITV (in England), it’s England vs. Scotland. It’s a fiercely contested derby game between bitter footballing, and now seemingly political, rivals. And for these players, after tonight’s game, the whole English and most of the Scottish squad can return to their respective clubs without a fuss. But other times England might be playing Australia or Brazil away from the comfort of Wembley, and returning back to England can be a hassle to say the least. I am now going to look at what effects far-flung international friendlies can have on the players and their clubs, as well as the fans home and away, also taking into account their usefulness to the international squad’s manager, before making my own conclusion on the matter.

I heard, the other day, that the Spanish national team were travelling all the way to Columbia to play in an international friendly. Now, the amount of air miles racked up by the players in that squad will be beyond belief, considering that there is also jet-lag and acclimatisation to contend with. Then there is the flight back to Spain and the subsequent journey to places such as Barcelona, Manchester or any other city in Europe. And that’s not the only problem that domestic clubs have when players return.

Players have previously come back with injuries, keeping them out of domestic action for up to Christmas and New Year, and sometimes beyond. Another problem is if players return late from midweek international duty, it means that they aren’t ready for Saturday afternoon at 3pm when their season starts. And if it’s not injury or lateness, there’s fatigue or just generally not feeling up to playing on the following weekend.

From the country’s perspective, it’s a good thing to have a friendly before the start of the season. It whets the fans’ appetite for the new season and is also a good way of assessing where the national team stand. But the negatives for the players and squads seem to outweigh the positives on this front, because as good as international friendlies can sometimes be, they seem to be of little value for most teams.

In my opinion, friendlies in the international game just don’t get me jumping out of my seat. They are full of offside strikers, substitutions, and general "flim-flam" building up to, and in the aftermath of, the match. So please FIFA, make international breaks just for competitive matches!!!