International Football - There may be trouble ahead

Much has been written about the various Republic of Ireland players that stayed away from the Nations Cup fixtures that have been taking place at the Aviva Stadium this past week. Forensic arguments have swung back and forth between doctors, coaches and administrators about the presence and degree of player's injuries, while communication protocol has been pulled apart and examined from every angle.

In a sense, this is little more than political bickering. Fans watching the angry charade will have been largely unmoved as there is a natural truth underlying this issue that is not difficult to understand. Tired footballers didn't want to come. Fans know this and, while those directly involved must work to defend their positions, those of us who are simply observers will be happy enough to settle for this simple conclusion.

The background to all this is that four Nations Cup fixtures were scheduled to begin just two days after the final ball was kicked in the English Premier League, a recipe, if ever there was one, for ensuring that there would be issues over personnel. Minor injuries that had been played through in consideration of the high stakes were unlikely to be put further at risk for what were, essentially, slightly posh friendlies.

Players who perform in such competitive environments rightly offer supreme levels of commitment to these competitions. How they and their clubs perform defines their position in the game, both in terms of status and finance. So it is unsurprising that, when a further commitment pops up, just two days later, to a competition in which they are frankly not invested, some players are not enthused.

The debate will probably rumble on as the demand for clarity has not yet been appeased. But the minutia of this particular episode can serve to obscure the wider issue, which is the continuing downward trajectory of international football itself.

International football used to represent the best of the best but that is no longer true. Top club sides, with their ability to cherry pick the best talent from across the globe, have superceded national sides in that regard. The honour of representing your country is a phrase that is often produced when the status of the international game needs to be underpinned, but players will know that the honour of competing in one of the world's top leagues often carries more solid credentials. Even a World Cup, the ultimate showcase of the best that national football has to offer, will be littered with players who would do well to gain even a minor role in the top domestic leagues.

This is a matter of practical reality, but the globalisation of the game and the advent of blanket satellite television coverage has also eaten away at another of international football's key attributes, that of mythology.

In decades past when Brazil showed up to play an international friendly in Europe it was an event of almost hysterical proportions. These were demi-gods. Everyone knew they were magnificent footballers but how would this magnificence manifest itself? Just how skillful were they? What could they do with a football that had earned them such an unparalleled reputation? They would have to be seen to be believed.

Today there is little about any national team, heroic or otherwise, that we cannot learn by simply investing in satellite television and the mythical players of the world game are generally on view each Wednesday night on whichever terrestrial channel happens to be showing the Champions League. Few international sides could visit the Aviva Stadium and bring a genuine sense of mystery along with them. One of the side effects of increased globalisation within the game is a tendency for all of the different nations to graduate their style of play towards the centre. Brazil, once the flag bearers of outlandish flair and elegance, are now a far more sober proposition, driven by the demand for success to take account of the prosaic realities of the modern game. The Germans, once noted for ruthless organisation, are no more organised than any other top side. And where Latin nations once cornered the market in, shall we say, theatricality, players who 'go down a bit too easily' are as likely to found in Manchester as in Madrid.

Some might say that such generalisations are lazy and were always more to do with perception than reality, but few football fans above the age of thirty would disagree that things have changed. Teams from all corners of the globe have learnt from each other and thus become more like each other. Even the weaker sides have cottoned on to the power of organisation and are no longer expected to suffer the kind of inglorious hammerings that used to occur so regularly on the world stage.

International football has lost much of it's ability to surprise us, to open us up to new football experiences, and in the wake of this our curiosity has faded. Add in the glowering clouds that are beginning to circle FIFA and it would appear that the international game yet more difficulties lying in wait. Of course, it would be foolish to adopt an apocalyptic approach.

Competitions like the World Cup, the African Cup of Nations and the Copa Libertadores are all huge draws but perhaps the continuing struggle to engage the public, not to mention the players, in minor competitions and international friendlies hints at the fact that bodies such as FIFA should no longer take their position on the totem pole for granted.