As students across the nation return to campus this week, so do the best international soccer players to their respective clubs. However, instead of a week enjoying the sun (and maybe a drink or too), players will spend the week with their countrymen on international duty. As a fan of the Premier League, there are no two words I dislike hearing more than “international break.”
On a selfish level, the international break is the worst simply because I don’t get my weekly dose of the Premier League. For me, the Premier League is like a drug, and when I go without my fix, I go a little crazy. I swear, I get the jitters. And nothing drives me more crazy than the international friendly. I mean, what’s the point of a friendly anyway? I’d get up at 7:45 on a Saturday morning to watch Stoke play Norwich over watching a friendly. At least in the former I can be sure players will be excited when they score. The only argument I can think of is that it allows teammates who don’t play together frequently to develop chemistry. This makes sense in the context of pre-season, or in a tune up for a major tournament, but once every few months, mid-season? Not so much.
The international break also presents an unnecessary injury risk. The Premier League season is already extremely demanding — the last thing players need is more games. Beginning in August and ending in May, there are no true breaks in the season. During the holiday period, most European league players get a chance to recharge their batteries. Teams in La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 get a break of about two weeks. The Bundesliga teams get about a month. For the Russian Premier League, it's three months. In the Premier League however, it's inexplicably the busiest period of the year. During the Christmas-New Year period, teams can play as many as four games in a week. The nine-month season is a marathon, but sometimes it feels more like a sprint. Because each game is equally decisive in determining who lifts the trophy in May and who gets relegated, there is an intensity to every game. Players are demanded to be physically fit and mentally sharp consistently. This takes a toll across the entirety of a season. For a player to play every game without going down with some sort of injury is rare. So when a player leaves healthy to go on international duty and returns with an injury, to a fan, there is nothing more frustrating.
The one thing I do like about international breaks is watching the U.S. men’s national team. But recently, even that has been difficult to watch. After a 2-0 defeat to Guatemala on Friday that had many fans calling for coach Jurgen Klinsmann to be fired, another loss would have been catastrophic to their chances of qualifying.The U.S. responded with a 4-0 win against Guatemala on Tuesday to, in all likelihood, advance to the next round of qualifying, but their play was still far from convincing.
All I can say is, thank God the Champions League is back next week.
