What a pain in the arse they are, especially when it's a pointless friendly in a period where there's no international break. Also why are they on Wednesday's? I thought they were supposed to be on Tuesdays and Fridays so clubs get their players back in good time. Here's where our players are off to: Benoit Assou-Ekotto - Tanzania v Cameroon Gareth Bale - Wales v Austria Mousa Dembele/Jan Vertonghen - Belgium v Slovakia Clint Dempsey - Honduras v USA Aaron Lennon/Kyle Walker - England v Brazil Hugo Lloris - France v Germany Gylfi Sigurdsson - Iceland v Russia Dempsey has the worst travel, as usual, but at least it's for a competitive match rather than a daft friendly. Benny definitely could've done with faking an injury for that game, Carrick has already discovered a mystery "injury" despite playing 90 minutes on the weekend and I wish we would do the same
I actually get bored of international football full stop now. The quality on show bar Spain and Germany is pretty poor in my opinion. I remember the days when I got so excited for international tournaments etc, nowadays, I just see them as something to waste time watching when bored. The passion from most players has gone, all they care about is their bonus these days.
totally agree. I see them as a complete hindrance on the domestic football. - Which is sad really, as one should be proud, whether a player or a supporter. But that's the way it is these days unfortunately. International Rugby puts international Football to shame.
They're becoming trivialised and something needs to be done to sort it out. Having an individual friendly game like this is just stupid, intrusive, disruptive and pretty useless for the national coaches, too. Flying players all over the world for a kick about and then watching a **** ton of them pull out with non-existent injuries is dumb.
Absolutely. Rugby players play for pride, passion and their country. Football players play for money and fame.
He seems happy as Larry to be there. He's already worshipping the sun in the sky, LOLing his heart out. Tanzania. I wish I was there. https://mobile.twitter.com/AssouEkotto
I hate them. So do the players, I suspect. I'm glad when they withdraw with "injuries". On a positive note, perhaps a Slovakian or two could kick Fellaini (if he hasn't flattened his Afro and had to withdrawn through "injury").
I hate them too. Same old faces. Same style of game. Yawn. And yet I'll still watch it around a friend's house with half a dozen others. We'll all shout abuse at players who don't play for our team. It'll be a laugh.
It really is pretty insane. It discredits both international and domestic football. International games should be at the beginning and end of the season, and/or in one period in the middle. The only enjoyment is to see what sort of creativity players employ in faking injuries. Fellaini says his hip bothered him after playing a full game and getting the tying goal at the death. What crystal ball makes me so certain he'll show no ill effects against Man U.
Great clearing header from Shelvey in the England U21 game: [video=youtube;_ywNfi2XCFs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ywNfi2XCFs#![/video] Oh, wait...
The England U21s are battering Sweden's, by the way. Seems to have been ignored by the BBC, for some reason. 3-0 up at half-time, with Adam Smith creating the opener and being heavily involved in the second.
I keep hearing how Smith is Millwall's most influential player this season from people I know that support them. I kept thinking, "But he's a right-back. How much influence can he actually have on a game?". Now I've seen this, I think I get it: [video=youtube;O8bBkeD3Lm0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8bBkeD3Lm0#![/video] Still don't get why Wickham doesn't get more time for Sunderland. Maybe we should've picked him up in January? Interesting to see Will Hughes of Derby getting another game. He's only 17 and lots of teams are looking at him, apparently.
Credit to Hodgson, he's set the team up well tonight. We might have rode our luck a bit but you always need a bit of luck to keep Brazil out. Elsewhere Bale's scored third in as many games for Wales, lets hope he doesn't tire himself out for Newcastle.
