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FOOTBALL - We all know money has always talked in football, nowadays seemingly more so than ever, but the news that England are set to play a lucrative friendly against Brazil in Qatar is likely to provoke anger. The timing of the game - it will reportedly take place between November 14 and 18 2009 - comes slap bang in the middle of the season, meaning some Premier League teams will not be happy that some of their players will go missing and instead be packed off on a 14-hour round-trip to play a game that is of no consequence.
Two things arise from this. Is the FA so short of cash that they need England to play this game? loserscomesecond are pretty certain that the Qatar authorities will be paying a pretty penny in order to stage the match, given that the country is desperate to raise its sporting profile and was even keen at one stage to hold the Olympics in 2016. Surely the debt on Wembley Stadium is not so great that the FA need to prostitute the England national team in such a manner?
On a more controversial note, bearing in mind the FA will want the England team to be made up of regulars and not bit-part players, how many England regulars do you think will pick up an injury in the weeks leading up to the game, meaning they will have to miss it? We do not want to name names of teams or players, but we are pretty sure that some regulars will be missing in Qatar. And frankly we will not be able to blame them.
