Does international football mean as much to players these days?

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Since there are more "surprise" results in European internationals these days (Turkey, Russia and Spain are the semis after all), are some players who play for the "big" clubs so well rewarded that international football isn't regarded as the pinnacle of their careers any more?

 

For example, is the ultimate for a John Terry or a Rio Ferdinand lifting a Euro or a World Cup, or the Champions League?

 

The Germans seem to be the honourable exception but then how many Germans are playing in the Big 4 leagues?

 

Therefore, the national team, for them, is more important than their club side.

 

Maybe I'm just taking that stance due to Ronaldo's reaction after Portugal got knocked out. He didn't seem to give a toss.

[shaun.lawson]

Since there are more "surprise" results in European internationals these days (Turkey, Russia and Spain are the semis after all), are some players who play for the "big" clubs so well rewarded that international football isn't regarded as the pinnacle of their careers any more?

 

For example, is the ultimate for a John Terry or a Rio Ferdinand lifting a Euro or a World Cup, or the Champions League?

 

The Germans seem to be the honourable exception but then how many Germans are playing in the Big 4 leagues?

 

Therefore, the national team, for them, is more important than their club side.

 

Maybe I'm just taking that stance due to Ronaldo's reaction after Portugal got knocked out. He didn't seem to give a toss.

 

I think it does, yes. Or at least, it does once they get to major tournaments, and don't have to worry about getting injured prior to a big Champions League tie in April or May. If you asked Ferdinand or Terry, I'm sure they'd regard winning something with their country as the absolute pinnacle - but once they got to the top, probably viewed winning the CL as much more realisable and realistic, especially given the random nature of major tournaments, in which luck plays a very big part.

 

Just because Ronaldo didn't burst into tears yet again, it doesn't mean he didn't care. To be honest, I think he's coped admirably given all he's had on his plate in recent weeks - and he probably just realised that the Portugese baw was burst long before the final whistle against Germany. As for there being more upsets: well, that's surely because the gap between the elite and the rest has closed up so much. More and more countries have better coaching, understanding of fitness, nutrition, organisation and so on: the cliche that there are "no easy games in international football" is, apart from the case of real minnows like San Marino or Andorra, genuinely true.

 

Look at Turkey. Absolute no hopers 20 years ago, but they've now reached two semi-finals in the past six years - and given the size of population there, as well as the colossal passion for football, they can surely only get better. Whisper it, but the gradual hispanicisation of the US probably means they'll become a force soon enough as well, with a formidable combination of Latin trickery and European physicality and organisation.

 

Meanwhile, it's certainly true that countries with wealthy leagues are likely to find it harder and harder: Brazil, Argentina, France, Holland and probably Germany are all able to export their best talent, so freeing up space in their top divisions to be filled by promising youngsters as part of a virtuous cycle bound to benefit the national team. Of course, Italy's success two years ago and Spain's long overdue progress here means it's not a hard and fast rule: but equally, that the Azzurri have remained so reliant on a core of players from an ageing, declining club side, and plainly had no-one creative enough to replace the suspended Pirlo with, is probably a sign that Italian football is suffering from similar problems to those occurring in Spain and particularly England.

[Ibrahim Tall]

The Germans seem to be the honourable exception but then how many Germans are playing in the Big 4 leagues?

.

 

The Bundesliga is one of the "big 4" is it not?

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

The Bundesliga is one of the "big 4" is it not?

 

Hmmm.

 

Fair point, although there's probably as much money in the French as the German leagues these days.

 

There's more supporters attend German than French games though, so fair enough.

 

I think what I was driving at is that German teams tend to underachieve in the main European competitions, therefore there is more opportunity to achieve with their national team as opposed to their club sides.

 

If Spain won the Euros, by the same token, do you think the Basques, for example, would share in the celebrations?

[The Old Tolbooth]

I think you only need to look at the attitude of old firm players every time a Scotland squad is announced for a friendly match, there's call offs all over the place, however when it's a qualifier, all of a sudden these players are available for selection and their mysterious illnesses have cleared up, Barry Ferguson being the worst offender by far!