The International Break

The International Break is hated by many football fans, as it puts a stop to club football for a week. It gives a chance for national teams to select 23 players to take on other nations whether they are friendlies or qualifiers for major competitions such as the World Cup. This round that happened last week had a few highlights for sure, showing that the thoughts which fans may have towards this can be changed by dramatic games of football.

Some of the games to remember are:

Turkey 4-2 Netherlands

Where the Lille talisman Burak Yilmaz scored a brilliant hat-trick to take Turkey to a winning start in their qualifiers. This was an unexpected outcome as Netherlands were the clear favourites. They have had internal problems with many being against Frank de Boer being in charge of a team that shows massive potential with players like Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs De Ligt leading the line for years to come.

Serbia 2-2 Portugal

This match was massively controversial as Portugal were robbed of a late winner from Cristiano Ronaldo. As shown by the picture, the ball was clearly over the line. The game started with Portugal taking a 2-0 win from two unusual situations where Liverpool’s Diogo Jota scored a brace from two headers. Serbia then brought it back with goals from Kostic and Mitrovic making the teams share a point in their qualifying group.

Germany 1-2 North Macedonia

One of the major upsets in this round of fixtures as Germany lost their first world cup qualifying match of the last 20 years. A very underwhelming performance from one of the strongest footballing nations in the world. North Macedonia made history last qualifiers as this summer they’ll participate in their first major international competition, the Euros. Timo Werner missed an absolute sitter which could’ve brought at least a point to the west Europeans.

The next international break will happen in the summer with teams taking each other on in both Copa America in South America and the Euros in Europe. These were to be played last summer but because of COVID-19 were postponed to this year. International breaks bring a nice pause to club football and allows fans for a different experience.