What you missed while CERN scientists were capturing antimatter…
- England 1-2 France; not only did England suck, but Gareth Barry and Steven Gerrard were also both injured. Yay for meaningless friendlies!
- Liverpool is seriously pissed off that Steven Gerrard was injured in the 85th minute because they were under the impression that Gerrard was only going to play for an hour in this COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS GAME THAT DOESN’T MATTER.
- Nani has apologized to Cristiano Ronaldo for totally screwing up his opening goal (which was disallowed after Nani headed the ball in from an offside position). Sepp Blatter has not apologized for not having video replay to show that the ball was over the line before Nani headed it. This was a moot point, by the way; Portugal beat Spain 4-0, which is Spain’s worst loss since being beaten 6-2 by Scotland in 1963.
- Chelsea has requested that the Brazilian FA explain why Alex – who will miss 6-8 weeks with injury – was named as a substitute in Brazil’s national side for their friendly against Argentina.
- Italian national Mario Balotelli is sick of the racist chants that Italian fans hurl at him every time he plays for the national team.
- Mario Balotelli has also announced that he’s committed to stay at Manchester City until June. Balotelli arrived at Man City in August.
- South Africa 0-1 U.S.; 17 year old debutant Juan Agudelo scored the winner for the U.S., making him the youngest American goal scorer ever.
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I said it yesterday, so I’m not going deep with it today: The USMNT seems to be content with the average. That game would have ended 0 – 0, were it not for the super-sub and that kid is good. Bradley continues to do what Bradley does and this is what it will be for as long as he is coach.
England, said this yesterday too: Capello has either lost the plot or those players are so scared of fucking up that it’s got them all tied.
The racism thing is a difficult one. Kickban the racists from the stadia? Check. Ban them from buying tickets? Check. But when it’s an institutional problem? Not so easy to solve.
I suspect Pool are pissed because he’s been a godsend in saving them from themselves this year, several games. Now, where do Pool go for goals? Torres isn’t exactly torrid, now is he?
Liverpool’s also pissed because their best players keep getting hurt on international duty, in games that maybe aren’t important. Torres and Kuyt have suffered or extended injuries while on international duty, and this isn’t Gerrard’s first brush with this problem. It’s one thing when it’s a Euro qualifier; it’s a completely different thing when the game doesn’t mean anything.
And here’s the problem: The fixture pile-up. Which game and competition do you care about and which do you not? If you look at the US line-up yesterday, it was devoid of a lot of the regulars. England, on the other hand, was studded with the usual (or a lot of). I can’t say I fault Capello as he’s trying to get that side into form, same as any other manager.
Put it this way: if Gerrard misses December, he misses a HUGE run-in of games that Liverpool will really need him for. It’s no small deal.
Understood and I’d feel the same if any of the Celtic line-up went out in the same manner. The problem is for the national side coaches: Only bring out the big guns in the ‘meaningful’ games? And meaningful means different things to different people. The clubs matter most except in case of the WC, most of the time anyway.
In general, I see the problem…but the international system needs to be reworked. Having a special date for friendlies right in the middle of November (and not, say, in the middle of a winter break, forcing England to adopt the strategy) is ridiculous.