Death To The International Friendly

The 'international friendly' is the most useless sporting event in the world. There, I said it, and I am sure there are many football fans that might agree with me. This past weekend there were numerous international friendlies played across the globe. England battled, key word battled, Ghana at Wembley Stadium, Germany lost to Australia and Brazil beat Scotland were just some of the highlighted matches. There were others of some significance, like France-Croatia, Greece-Poland and USA-Argentina. All in all each country played a match during the international break.

So what is the point of the 'international friendly?' It really all comes down to money and ticket sales. Did you know that Brazil have not played a home friendly match since 2006? Instead, they have been on a rock star inspired tour playing in countries such as England, Qatar and the United States. If they pay, we will play should be Brazil's new motto. Granted many members of the Brazilian team play their domestic football in Europe, but nevertheless shouldn't at least one match be played in their home stadium? 

The footballing argument is that the meaningless matches provide a forum for some of the countries 'B' internationals to audition for a place in the 'A' squad while also allowing some of the countries' younger internationals to gain valuable experience. Excuse me, but experience is the most overused word in sport. Is there a difference between domestic and international experience? Is Jack Wilshire unexperienced because he only has four caps for England? I don't think so . . . he has been a constant in the Arsenal squad that have challenged for honors on four fronts this season.

Perhaps I am wrong . . . but more likely than not, you also wish a death to the international friendly.