Unagi… Be Prepared

April 7th, 2006 | By: Luis Paulo | 6 Comments »

There are some teams that are dying to schedule a friendly match while others are turning down opponents. Our friend Afshin at the Iranian blogg is even trying to schedule a game himself: Mexico x Iran. But what is a proper preparation to a World Cup? Should we face strong or weak teams? How many friendly games are ideal?

Italy will be facing Switzerland and Ukraine, two teams which will be in German this year. Netherlands will play against Cameroon, Mexico and Australia. Spain will face Egypt and Russia. Those teams believe in a strong preparation. They will use the 20 days they have to play as much as they can and try to create a chemistry to the team.

However, this is not a common sense. Brazil, for an example, between their last game against Russia on March 1st and the World Cup, have only one game booked: against the weak New Zealand. With players coming back after a hard season in Europe they prefer to take this time to get them rested and fit. Argentina seems to think the same way once they also have only one friendly arranged: Angola.

In my opinion, Portugal chose the right way. Two friendly games but against low ranked teams: Cape Verde and Luxemburg. I don’t believe the 20 days before the World Cup is the time to make big arranges. If you play against strong opponents you are willing to loose important players. Remember France in 2002? They lost Zidane five days before the World Cup in a match against South Korea.

What about you? What do you believe to be the ideal preparation to the World Cup? Are Cape Verde and Luxemburg good opponents? Who Portugal should be facing at this time?

Tags: friendly, Portugal, World Cup Preparation

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Comments

By Pedro P | April 7th, 2006 at 7:56 am

I believe that each case is different and that each coach is the one who should know what his team needs.

Before EC 2004 Portugal had a set of friendlies against teams that weren’t very easy – Italy, Sweden. BUT, Portugal was host and didn’t go through the qualifiers.

I also believe a team will not prepare in just a couple of weeks before the tournement. So, indeed, why make them risk loosing a player playing hard teams?

I think easy teams that still make you run are good to get back the feel of playing together, test hypothesis, boost the moral, etc.

On the other hand, a weaker team should make use of this chance to play the difficult ones and gain experience.

Posted from Netherlands

By Luis Paulo | April 7th, 2006 at 8:04 am

Pedro, you have four years and one Eurocup to win experience. The last two weeks are just not the time to do it, IMO. You don’t build a team in 20 days, but you can destroy one loosing your main players.

By Pedro P | April 7th, 2006 at 8:08 am

True.

Posted from Netherlands

By Kapcro | April 7th, 2006 at 8:33 am

I think a moderate approach to scheduling is best. Fine tune the team. Burnout is a constant threat since the tension of the whole WC tourney is always a factor for players particularly younger ones. (except maybe in Brazil’s case. That juggernaut just keeps rolling)

Posted from United States

By The Blog Goes On 04.07 - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | April 7th, 2006 at 11:01 am

[...] Meanwhile, Portugal is happy with its small, selective group of friendlies (Portugal Blog) [...]

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