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Whose idea was the nations league? Seriously, whose idea was it?
It’s that time of the year, or should I say time of month, when every football fan is asking this question.
Even die-hard fans of international football are left wondering where it came from and
Why it appeared. And it’s not just annoying. No, it’s much worse than that.
Domestic football leagues are like soap operas that capture the attention of fans on a weekly basis. We tune in for the latest instalment and bite our nails as we wait to see the denouement from the latest cliffhanger. That’s what football is all about. It’s not our job. It doesn’t pay us. It’s not actually a religion. It’s a soap opera. And every time the players in this particular soap-opera take a week off, we are left to ask ourselves if there isn’t something better we should be doing with our Saturday afternoon. In fact, we often there must be something better we could be doing.
And what is this madness?! Random internationals being played at all hours of the day and night between god knows whom and for god knows what! And every day of the bloody week. If you were tasked with a way to ruin people’s enjoyment of the beautiful game then ‘The nations league would surely be the answer.
And don’t get me wrong. I’m not one of these club-obsessed, “International Football is a load of crap!” droogs. I like international football. I love it in fact. I saw Kenny Dalglish in an international match along with 72000 others at Glasgow’s Hampden park. As a fan of a smaller club I’d never have had the opportunity to see Lentini galloping down the wing, on one fine night at Ibrox Park, if it weren’t for international football. Not to mention Baresi and Baggio too.
The problem is that these international breaks are just too long. And there are too many of them. International football used to be squeezed in on Wednesday night and it was a welcome break from the routine. They didn’t need a whole two weeks to play their games. I don’t even know how often they played internationals in the good old days. Was it every month? Or every couple of months? It always something we looked forward to. That’s all I know.
It’s no wonder the football players are considering a strike. Especially those players who have to travel half way across the world for their matches. Although I suppose those South American players are at least up against real nations unlike their European counterparts who spend most international breaks playing against an assortment of territories, Islands and part-time city states. These days football is really pushing its luck. And International football is one of the main culprits.
What’s that you say? Why not just watch the matches and enjoy the football? Well, I’d rather not pay that subscription, thank you very much. What do you mean? It’s live on youtube?
Wait a minute, just scrap everything I just said. They are streaming the Scotland Croatia game live on YouTube! I can’t believe it! There is a football god, after all. Ah the goose bumps……..
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