Pointless summer friendlies: 2017 edition

I know some people vaguely care about exhibition matches, particularly if they take place in the USA, and some of them may even seem (but only seem) slightly relevant as the end of summer approaches. So why not clump discussion of those matches in one thread and save us all from polluting the club-specific threads with them?

I say "clubs", although the match that inspired me to start this thread was the result I just saw: Singapore 0, Argentina 6. What on earth is the point of that match and result?
 

soxfan121

JAG
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2002
23,043
I say "clubs", although the match that inspired me to start this thread was the result I just saw: Singapore 0, Argentina 6. What on earth is the point of that match and result?
Ticket sales? (I assume you are putting the home team first)

Singapore is a soccer hotbed and giving the local fans a chance to see Argentina's C team (again, an assumption) is good for growing the sport and for selling tickets/merchandise/etc.

Messi has tax bills to pay, yo. ;-)
 
Yeah, the answer to "why" is almost always $$$$, ££££ or €€€€. But you can't credibly complain about player burnout when you're making your players schlep to Singapore in June, or to Malaysia (etc.) in July. Maybe an international federation needs the money, but I seriously doubt the top European clubs really get more out of these junkets than ultimately they put in.

(Messi didn't play today, FWIW, although I know you were joking.)
 

soxfan121

JAG
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2002
23,043
I wonder if the Argentinian team is making a vacation out of it - you know, brought the WAGs, booked a sunny, surfside resort, and are "bonding" while sipping fruity drinks out of coconuts (are there coconuts in Singapore?)

ETA: I would guess no one is going to THE Ukraine to play a friendly this summer. But "tropical" destinations? Why the heck not?
 

BrazilianSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 11, 2006
3,751
Brasil
Brazil used these friendlies to test some of the B and C players, and to see how the team reacts to playing without Neymar.

 

koufax32

He'll cry if he wants to...
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2006
9,092
Duval
The France-England match today was highly entertaining. What a ridiculous amount of attacking talent in the France side.
 
Brazil used these friendlies to test some of the B and C players, and to see how the team reacts to playing without Neymar.
What does that even mean? You learn how to play without Neymar when he's injured or suspended from an important World Cup qualifier or group stage match and the other ten A players in your squad are still out on the pitch. You learn about your B and C players when they're in the starting XI with at least 7-8 other A players and there's something on the line, not when they're playing alongside each other in an end-of-season jolly away to Australia.

Not picking on you as such - this is how international managers justify international friendlies. But it's hogwash.
 

coremiller

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
5,846
Yeah, the answer to "why" is almost always $$$$, ££££ or €€€€. But you can't credibly complain about player burnout when you're making your players schlep to Singapore in June, or to Malaysia (etc.) in July. Maybe an international federation needs the money, but I seriously doubt the top European clubs really get more out of these junkets than ultimately they put in.

(Messi didn't play today, FWIW, although I know you were joking.)
The big clubs aren't doing it for the short-term revenue from ticket sales like the FAs are, they're doing it to build brand awareness and penetrate new markets over the longer term.