Why the useless International friendlies should be scrapped?

Such mild stress is enviable to football fans everywhere when they see the first international break of the season smash the otherwise fluid and beautiful continuity of the European domestic leagues, crippling one’s enjoyment of the season before it has even begun. Bear in mind that in football, unlike physics, energy and momentum are not conserved.

Let’s be honest with each other: no one likes international friendlies. They count for nothing, they contribute nothing, they mean nothing, bar a bunch of ‘caps’ for loyal, eager players, and a risk of unnecessary injury. Imagine a team spending a quarter of their transfer budget on a player, only to have him pick up a cruciate ligament injury in a match that, initially and ultimately, meant nothing. It’s horrifying and it’s happened. It’s also why a lot of bigger clubs’ key players pick up mysterious injuries in the days leading up to international teams’ squad announcements.

Take Robin van Persie – a top player everyone wants to see play who is eligible to participate in 5 club competitions a year (including the World Club Cup should Manchester United win the Champions League). If it’s in a year with an International tournament (World Cup in Brazil in 2014) the total amount of games he could conceivably play if United and Holland win all of their competitions is 38 Premier League, 6 League Cup, 7 FA Cup, 13 Champions League, 2 Club World Cup games, 7 World Cup matches, or 73 in total. Then add the 13 non-competitive international games Holland played in the last 12 months and you have one of the best players in the world wasting his time for just under 1/5th of the year, which is, frankly, outrageous.

One would hope that it’s only a matter of time before non-important national team games are scotched, though it’s highly unlikely given FIFA’s precedent (and president) for improving international relations between countries, players and fans who really couldn’t give a toss. A reduced number of games worldwide would result in a higher average standard of football.