Meaningless Friendlies
Thursday, 20 November 08, 01:03 AM · Comments (6)
One has to ask: what is the point of the international friendly games at this point of the season? Most national sides do not play a competetive match until the end of March 2009 so these can hardly been seen as preparation games, but anyway...
Eight Barça players were in action for their respective national teams so here is a quick summary:
Carles Puyol played the first 45 minutes and Xavi Hernandez the first 71 minutes of Spain's 3-0 win over Chile. Xavi created Spain's second goal with a run from his own half before setting up Fernando Torres to score.
Thierry Henry faced Martin Caceres as France and Uruguay drew 0-0. Henry played 72 minutes while Caceres played the whole match in the left back position. When will he be tried in this position for Barça?
Alexandr Hleb played for Belarus in their 2-1 defeat against Cyprus in Nicosia.
Dani Alves travelled all the way to Brazil to play the last 12 minutes as Brazil crushed Portugal 6-2. Ballon d'Or favourite Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly had a poor game for Portugal.
Rafa Marquez was the only player involved in a match that wasn't a friendly. Rafa played the whole 90 minutes as Mexico surprisingly lost 1-0 in Honduras in a World Cup qualifier.
Sergio Busquets played on Tuesday night as Spain's under-21 team lost 4-1 against Portugal.
Finally, Samuel Eto'o decided he would rather stay in Barcelona than travel to South Africa for a friendly. Without Eto'o Cameroon lost 3-2.
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Titi186:
I agree with you on one thing : Ronaldo had a better season than Messi last year. Don't forget that Messi was out for 4-5 months ? He will probably get the award ahead of Messi but that does NOT make him a better player. Hell, he is not even in the same league when it comes to pure skill and talent. However, it will be very difficult for Messi to win the Bal Dór unless Barça win the CL . Once again , I find it hard to understand that some " Barça " fans would go out of their way to defend the likes of Ronaldo and criticize Messi , arguably the BEST player in the world . Go figure !!
Messi IS the best player AT THE MOMENT. end of story.
but ballon d'or is based on last years performance, so i would say C. Ronaldo deserves it. no doubt. 40 goals and two trophies speaks for it self.
as far as abidal/caceres goes, i trust that Pep will use the most in-form player at any time. we haven't seen caceres much, so we can't really tell if he's better than abidal at he moment.
layibiyi:
Good point . I couldn't have put it better myself !!
6 Comments · Add yours
nic:
I agree with your point about Caceres . He seems fine in the left back position. He is definitely better than the useless Abidal. Hell, anybody is an improvement over Abidal !! Cacerer actually goes forward and takes part in attack unlike Abidal who goes forward then kicks the ball BACK almost everytime. What the Hell is the point of him going forward in the first place ? You tell me !!
Regarding Ronaldo's performance against Brazil: no surprise there. He seems to thrive against mediocre opposition while disappearing against big clubs and in international matches. Obviously anybody who thinks that Ronaldo is the best player in the world is a biased idiot . He may get the Bal dór but only based on his goal tally from last year and his club winning the EPL and the CL. Messi is the best player in the world. End of story. Some former/current EPL fans turned part-time Barça fans may disagree with me but that is ok !!
Barca-Rotterdam its not people disagree with you but if you compare the two Messi and Ronaldo over the season Ronaldo wins it. Messi didnt score in either game against Man United or Real Madrid last year? Does that make him someone who doesnt score in high profile games? No as he is a top class player and we must look at their record as a complete picture. As much as I love watchng Messi there was much missing from his locker last year. Its not like Messi had a fantastic year my friend. I am soooo glad Ronaldo is faltering this year and Messi is putting in some glittering performances. Win something and play like this all year then he might should win it.
However this World player/Ballon d'or is purely based on the champions league (or sometimes world cup). Thierry Henry, when I dont care what anyone says was the best player in the world, during Arsenal 'unbeatable' season 2003/2004 didnt win it just because Arsenal came out in the QF of CLeague. 30 goals in the league and not one league defeat but somehow he finished 2nd. Kaka won it despite Milan finishing 4th in their league which is a discrace but they won the CLeague. Cannavaro won it despite him being in Juventus that was stripped of their title for cheating and Juve being destoryed but Henry home and away in the Champions League. But this is football I'm afraid. These days its run by idiots.
Messi to win it next year BUT more importantly Barca to win something. Team before individuals always!
And stop saying 'part-time' fans, we all are Barca fans, wether we watch them 24/7 or once in a blue moon