Are international friendlies necessary?

A few times each year, the managers for each country's national team will pick and choose players from different soccer clubs to participate in international friendlies.  The outcome of these friendlies have practically no importance since there is no championship to be won, and they do not affect a country's standing or ranking.  Often, the managers of the best soccer clubs in the world, such as Manchester United or FC Barcelona, hate international friendlies because many of their players receive a call up to play in the national team.  After the games, the players come back tired and can not play well in the league games.  On the other hand, the coaches of less important teams often benefit from international friendlies because not many of their players receive a call up, and thus, it becomes easier for them to defeat a team on a higher skill level.

Recently, Sir Alex Ferguson, the coach of Manchester United, gave a radio interview where he stated that, "I am all in favour of the competitions. The players should play in the major competitions; the European Championship, the World Cup."  Friendlies, however, are a different story.  He angrily branded these games as "a waste of time," when many of his key players were selected for England's game against Ghana.  Only a few days after his players come back, the team needs to prepare for a league game and an important game in the Champions League.  To him, it seems unnecessary to tire out his players when there is no feasible gain. 

Some suggest that national coaches should only be allowed to select a limited number of players from each soccer club to balance things out.  Others suggest getting rid of international friendlies altogether.  On the other hand, many citizens of each nation enjoy watching their national teams play.  Friendlies are another way to measure the progress of their national team.  What should people do??
     

Where is Mourinho headed next?

One of the most colorful and fascinating personalities in the soccer world is Jose Mourinho, known to some as an incredibly gifted coach and to others as a power-hungry egomaniac. 
Mourinho has a long list of past accomplishments to testify for his talents.  In 2004, he led FC Porto, a club often overlooked and with very little success on the international stage, to win the European Champions League.  He later moved on to Chelsea, with which he won two Premier League titles and several championships.  His most recent accomplishments came during his stay with Internazionale, when he won the league, the cup, and the Champions League all in one season.
Now Mourinho is currently leading the players at Real Madrid, where he faces the task of rebuilding a broken team and toppling the current champions Barcelona.  Mourinho's craving for success and power is well-known, and even before he has accomplished this task, he has already hinted at his next career move.
On his short trip to London, he recently announced "I miss England and my next job will be in England," Mourinho declares. "There is unfinished business. And I think England wants me back, no?"  When asked about Real Madrid, he speaks about his current club almost in the past tense. 
Many possibilities await him in England.  He could choose to reunite with Chelsea or take over rising clubs such as Spurs or Manchester City.  Whatever he chooses, it's certainly true that "England certainly wants more of his charisma, the adoration he inspires in players, and the newspapers he sells." 
 

Good News and Bad News

The past week for Barcelona has been eventful, full of ups and downs. 

On March 8th, Barcelona competed in a Champions League game against Arsenal, an English football club.  Barcelona had lost the first leg 2-1 in February, and thus, it needed to win in the second leg in order to move past the round of 16 and reach the quarterfinals.  Fortunately, for its fans, Barcelona won with a solid 3-1 victory.  Lionel Messi opened the scoring just before the start of half-time, and from then Barcelona seemed to haave control of the game.  Arsenal were showing little signs of attack, and their goal came out of nowhere, when Sergio Busquets accidentally shot the goal into his own net.  Thanks to Messi again and Xavi, Barcelona were able to clinch a victory with goals.  Congratulations!!

Unfortunately, Barcelona experienced a minor dip in form later this week when it played a league game against Sevilla, with the score ending as 1-1.  Again, Barcelona seeed to have control of the game when Bojan scored the opening goal; however, Jesus Nevas pulled back a point for Sevilla.  Despite controlling possession and attack, Barcelona were unable to capitalize on their chances. 

Barcelona is still ranked number 1, but now Real Madrid only lags five points behind.  This sign indicates that the league title is still up for grabs, and the coming weeks will be filled with intense games.   

Real Madrid crushes Malaga

Real Madrid have not played this well in a very long time.  After losing 5-0 to Barcelona at the end of November last year, Real Madrid have not been in consistent form.  They have played well in some games, but they have also dropped points on many other occasions.  In the month of January, they surprisngly lost to Osasuna, a very low-ranking team.  They also failed to beat Almeria and Deportivo, drawing 1-1 and 0-0 respectively. 

On Wednesday, March 3rd, however, they surprised their wins with a mindblowing 7-0 win.  Just before the half-hour mark, Karim Benzema kicked in the first goal and set Madrid on course to victory.  Less than 10 minutes later, Marcelo passed the ball to Di Maria, who managed to tuck it away in the net.  Marcelo himself later scored the third goal just before the referee blew the whistle for half-time.  The highlight of the second half was a hat trick from Cristiano Ronaldo, who with this game finally ended his four-game scoring drought.  Benzema also added a goal to the tally, but fortunately for Malaga, the game was soon over.

To watch video higlights, visit http://lets-kickoff.blogspot.com/