Club fans do not approve of international breaks. International breaks create holes in the schedule, break up team momentum, increase the risk of injury to players, and a lot of times create irregular travel schedules for players, who then need a few days to recover once they return to their club teams. “Country over club” fans enjoy the international breaks because they provide opportunities to cheer on a nation’s flag while rooting on the home country team. This past international break included Euro 2016 qualifiers, African Cup of Nations 2015 qualifiers and a whole lot of friendly games, and I use the word “friendly” very loosely as most of them are far from that. Here are a few things that the October international break taught us:
Landon Donovan is the most important U.S. Soccer player ever – Donovan’s bon voyage in Connecticut was an emotional night for U.S. soccer fans. While it did not end with a go ahead goal or assist from Donovan, the 41 minutes played by Donovan were action packed and filled with anticipation every time he touched the ball. The crowd took the opportunity to sing their favorite U.S. chants, while Donovan even joined them. Donovan retires as the USMNT all time leading goal and assists scorer, 57 and 58 respectively, and the fact that he elected to play the majority of his career in MLS rather than chase potential European glory certainly helped endear him to U.S. fans.
MLS needs to get on an international schedule – Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the fact that I could watch a USMNT game and then flip over and catch a crucial MLS game afterwards on another channel. However, at this crucial part of the MLS season as teams are in the final stages of their playoff push, it is quite daunting to ask the best players in the league to leave their clubs, even if it is just for a short time frame to represent their country and jump right back into playoff mode. I would argue for either moving the MLS season from an August to May time frame like many leagues around the world, or starting the season earlier in order to avoid scheduling conflicts.
Neymar is a goal-scoring factory – Brazil played two games in Asia during the break. Neymar scored 4 goals in Brazil’s 4-0 win over host Japan, and moved up to 5th all time in goals scored for the Selecção with 40 all time at the ripe old age of 22. It is clear that when Neymar plays, Brazil can look unstoppable, without him, well we all saw the two games they played in the World Cup without him.
Robbie Keane reigns supreme in Euro Qualifying – MLS MVP contender, Robbie Keane, became the Euro Qualifying all time goal scoring leader with 21 goals after scoring a hat trick in a 7-0 thrashing of Gibraltar in Dublin last week. The 34-year-old Irish captain and LA Galaxy veteran has been playing for the Irish national team since 1998, but has only played in one international tournament with the squad, the Euro 2012 tournament. Keane has his team in good position after 3 qualifiers with 7 still remaining, tied at the top of the group with 7 points alongside Poland.
Super Eagles Struggle – The defending African Cup of Nations champions, Nigeria, fired their coach, Stephen Keshi, after his team finds themselves on the brink of failing to qualify for the 2015 edition of the tournament in Morocco. The team had gone winless in their first three qualifying games before finally defeating Sudan on Wednesday, 3-1. Unfortunately, their win did not save Keshi’s job as the team currently sits in third place in the group with 4 points trailing second place Congo by 3 points and first place South Africa by 4 points with 2 games remaining. The top two teams will qualify, while the best third place team will advance as well. Ivory Coast and Egypt are currently tied at 6 points for best third place team.
Germany suffering from World Cup Hangover – the FIFA World Cup Champions have played 4 games since winning the trophy in Rio de Janeiro in July, they have only won 1 of those games. This past weekend was disastrous for the German national team as they lost 2-0 to Poland, the first time in their history they have ever lost to their neighbors and then tied at home in Gelsenkirchen against the Republic of Ireland 1-1, giving up a tying goal in the waning seconds of the game. Despite the fact that the team was missing key World Cup contributors such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil, and Benedikt Howedes, they still fielded a who’s who of German stars on the field for both games while working in some young players. Manager Joachim Low is not happy about the team’s current position in the qualifying table, 3 points behind leaders Poland and Republic of Ireland, and believes the team will find their scoring touch in the remaining games.
Political tensions clash on the field – The Serbia v. Albania Euro qualifier was perhaps the most mind-boggling game of the Euro qualifiers. The game was suspended due to unrest within the stadium after a drone flying an Albanian flag representing “Greater Albania” insinuated fights on the pitch. Serbian defender Stefan Mitrovic, who plays for Freiburg in the Bundesliga, ripped down the flag and was immediately pushed by Albanian players and that’s when fans broke through security and on to the pitch. The half ended with Albanian players fleeing for cover into the tunnel and riot police throughout, the game was abandoned early in the second half when a flare was dropped on the field. The hostile tensions between both nations unfortunately spilled on to the field in this match up. UEFA is opening proceedings against both national Football associations. The case will be dealt with on October 23.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @lwosjczambrano. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at /r/football.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
