Just when you thought proper football was back here's the International Break - September 2024

ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
edited September 4 in Other Teams & Matches
Yet another opportunity for our very expensive players to represent their country and get injured

Alvarez had been left out of the Mexico squad for friendlies against New Zealand and Canada

Ghana are first to play and Kudus is likely to start
Angola 5pm Thursday Niger 4pm Monday

Rodriguez has been on the bench 24 of the last 25 games for Argentina with just three appearances
Chile 1:00am Friday Colombia 9:30pm Tuesday

Areola has been on the bench 27 games in a row, his last appearance for France was 25 September 2022
Italy 7:45pm Friday Belgium 7:45pm Tuesday

Antonio will be the last player in action at stupid o'clock Wednesday morning in sunny Tegucigalpa
Cuba 1am Saturday Honduras 3am Wednesday

Paqueta has started every match since his return from betting-related exile
Ecuador 2am Saturday Paraguay 1:30am Wednesday.

Will a change of England manager mean Bowen gets a look in?
Ireland 5pm Saturday, Finland 7:45pm Tuesday

Captain Soucek and Coufal are pretty much nailed on to start for Czechia
Georgia 5pm Saturday Ukraine 7:45pm Tuesday

Ditto Mavrapanos for Greece
Finland 7:45pm Saturday Ireland 7:45pm Tuesday

Fullkrug isn't a regular starter for Germany but he made an appearance in every game of the Euros
Hungary 7:45pm Saturday Netherlands 7:45pm Tuesday
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Comments

  • stevesteve
    Hate this internal break .just as the season has started
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    The world of football has moved on and the internationals should be treated as a novelty accompaniment rather than a stop the clocks and drop everything for them.
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    That might be the case for England but I think there are plenty of countries who care a lot about their national teams.
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    Maybe but I think in most countries these international friendly breaks and lots of largely meaningless competition qualifiers would be seen as a nuisance.

    I could understand there are possibly some football fans in perhaps Bulgaria that get to see Mbappe play which wouldn't happen otherwise, but for me that's not a reason to inconvenience the domestic calendar to the extent it does.
  • alderzalderz
    I like the international break most of the time, personally.
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    edited September 4
    claretandbluesky said:

    Maybe but I think in most countries these international friendly breaks and lots of largely meaningless competition qualifiers would be seen as a nuisance.

    I could understand there are possibly some football fans in perhaps Bulgaria that get to see Mbappe play which wouldn't happen otherwise, but for me that's not a reason to inconvenience the domestic calendar to the extent it does.

    My brother in law is Finnish and is so into their games. He doesn’t understand how little we care about the international break. I know a lot of Turks and people from African countries who feel the same.

    I think maybe in countries with major leagues it’s an inconvenience but for others it’s a big thing. Maybe also for countries that either win things or don’t have hopes(/delusions) of winning them it’s easier to go along for the ride.
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    claretandbluesky said:

    Maybe but I think in most countries these international friendly breaks and lots of largely meaningless competition qualifiers would be seen as a nuisance. .

    Technically these aren't friendlies, they're UEFA Nations League matches which have their own finals in June 2025 although only four teams are involved. We qualified for the first finals in 2019, losing to Holland in the semis, winning 3rd place on penalties against Switzerland - but have failed to qualify the last two
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    ASLEFshrugged said:

    claretandbluesky said:

    Maybe but I think in most countries these international friendly breaks and lots of largely meaningless competition qualifiers would be seen as a nuisance. .

    Technically these aren't friendlies, they're UEFA Nations League matches which have their own finals in June 2025 although only four teams are involved. We qualified for the first finals in 2019, losing to Holland in the semis, winning 3rd place on penalties against Switzerland - but have failed to qualify the last two
    But, let's be honest, the Nations League is pretty pointless, and was only introduced to try and justify the meaningless friendlies by giving them a league format.
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    edited September 5
    buffybegood said:

    But, let's be honest, the Nations League is pretty pointless, and was only introduced to try and justify the meaningless friendlies by giving them a league format.

    Only for Europe

    African teams are playing qualifiers for the 2025 African Cup of Nations, CONCACAF are playing qualifiers for the 2025 Gold Cup, there are playoffs for the qualifiers of the 2027 Asian Cup while South America and Oceania are playing 2026 World Cup qualifiers
  • alderzalderz
    San Marino won last night!
  • Ravel49Ravel49
    edited September 6

  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    Ghana lost 1-0 at home to Angola, Kidud played the full 90
    Rodriguez watched Argentina beat Chile 3-0
  • Ravel49Ravel49
    ASLEFshrugged said:

    Ghana lost 1-0 at home to Angola, Kidud played the full 90
    Rodriguez watched Argentina beat Chile 3-0

    Tough night


  • stevesteve
    I know how he feels =)
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    They are taking all this ' ooh the new kit is a little to snug on my collar' too far now!
    So precious...
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    edited September 7
    Areola sat on the bench while France's No. 1 Mike Maignan conceded three goals to Italy in Paris

    Scamacca wasn't in the Italian squad, suffered an ACL injury in a friendly against Parma at the beginning of August

    Antonio played a full 90 minutes against Cuba in Kingston. It ended a 0-0 draw despite Jamaica having 73% possesssion, 21 shots to Cuba's 4 and Cuba playing the second half with 10 men

    Paqueta played 78 minutes and provided the assist in Brazil's 1-0 home win over Ecuador
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    From The Guardian

    Lee Carsley (40 caps for Ireland) won’t sing the national anthem and had been approached by the Irish FA to become their manager

    Harry Kane says that Declan Rice and Jack Grealish might get a hostile reception (Grealish was an Irish U21 before he switched to England)

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/sep/06/lee-carsley-will-not-sing-englands-national-anthem-before-first-game
  • IronHerbIronHerb
    Why would he sing the anthem if he identifies as Irish?
  • alderzalderz
    He said it’s nothing to do with his national identity. He said he never sang the Irish anthem either, because he found the long time between coming out of the tunnel and starting the game in international football to be difficult to maintain focus, and he felt that the anthems stopped him focusing as much as he needed to.

    It’s such a non-story
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    IronHerb said:

    Why would he sing the anthem if he identifies as Irish?

    He didn't sing the Irish one as a player either.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c17gj5e1krdo

    I imagine the poppy warriors are getting warmed up on the sink social media sites.
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    Imagine a world in which other people get upset by how another person identifies with a nation or indeed whether they identify in anyway with one. It has nothing to do with the job as no one imagined Sven or Fabio would identify with being English to do the job.

    On a purely personal level I would eye any player belting out the anthem at the top of his voice with a bit more instinctive judgment than someone like Carsley keeping himself to himself on such matters.

  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited September 7
    claretandbluesky said:

    Imagine a world in which other people get upset by how another person identifies with a nation or indeed whether they identify in anyway with one. It has nothing to do with the job as no one imagined Sven or Fabio would identify with being English to do the job.

    I know a Liverpudlian numpty who thinks that Liverpool should be an independent country 😂🤣😂, still holding a grudge because of the, admittedly deplorable, actions of a minority of Englishmen in important or influential positions in the aftermath of Hillsborough.



  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    Very disappointed to see Maguire back in the starting 11:

    Pickford, Alexander-Arnold, Maguire, Guehi, Colwill, Mainoo, Rice, Gordon, Grealish, Saka, Kane.
  • EXETERHAMMEREXETERHAMMER
    I agree about Maguire. May as well bring Phil Jones in too.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited September 7
    Have just seen this on the OS:

    "Brazil now have ten points from seven quailifying matches played, and sit fourth in the ten-team table. The top six teams after 18 matches will directly earn their place in the 2026 finals, to be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico, while the seventh side will enter a play-off."

    Really seems an unnecessary amount of games, much easier to have 2 groups of 5 which is just 8 games instead of 18. Also, 6 guaranteed places and a play off for a 7th is a very generous allocation for 10 countries, I blame Infantino (as I always do when given half a chance) for expanding the World Cup when there's really no need. 32 teams and 8 groups of 4 is more than big enough imo with the top 2 qualifying keeping an amount of jeopardy in the group stages that won't be there when most of the 3rd placed teams will advance anyway.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited September 7
    Rice scores 😂🤣😂.

    Gordon shoulda done when he was through on the keeper, then Kane's effort was blocked, before Rice slotted the rebound.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    And now Grealish rubs salt into Irish wounds as, having represented them at age levels, now scores the second against them.
  • alderzalderz
    This has been good to watch so far. Personally don’t have an issue with Maguire being in the side.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    alderz said:

    This has been good to watch so far. Personally don’t have an issue with Maguire being in the side.

    As much as I really value your opinions, I tend to overlook them where CBs are concerned 😂🤣😂.

  • IronHerbIronHerb
    So TAA picks this game to forget how to pass. 😂
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