International Highlights - Friday Feedback

Well, it's back again. The international break. Play three matches? Take a break. Okay, you're back, now play four matches. Fine fine, take a break. Footballers are so lazy, aren't they?

I kid. Mostly. The break is quite important now, as most teams are working on attempting to qualify for the World Cup. Better still, there are tons of matches from which you can choose. Don't lie, at least one of you is beyond giddy for Faroe Islands - Sweden.

So with this full slate in mind we thought it would be interesting to see what everyone plans to watch. And by everyone, I do mean you as well. Let us know down in the comments!

This week's question: With the domestic leagues taking the week off, which national teams are you most looking forward to watching? Why?

Matt: In addition to the two teams I support the most (USA and Germany, for anyone wondering), I'm really looking forward to the Solomon Islands-New Caledonia WC qualifier. (And yes I did just try to find the most obscure game.) [Ed: after some prompting by Kirsten, Matt let us know that this was part of the Oceania confederation, in case you were wondering.]

Andrew: This is dumb because the football is terrible but I'm most interested in the two Scotland matches. Their manager, Craig Levein, had success at Hearts and has been pretty terrible since taking over the Scottish national team. I spent 12 days in Scotland last month with my in-laws and it was hard to watch them deal with the fact that Scotland is just not a relevant football power anymore. So that being said, I am interested to see if they can hang with Belgium and I think they can beat Wales.

I'm also hoping Levein finally uses some positive tactics but I highly doubt it. Call me an idiot but I honestly believe they have enough quality to be a threat if it were managed correctly. It's just not happening there. Of the players to watch, everyone is pining for more Jordan Rhodes so look to see if he gets a start and if not - and they lose - Levein will probably get the sack.

Kirsten: For Friday, absolutely Serbia - Belgium. Group A has three sides with four points: these two plus Croatia. Croatia should have no trouble with Macedonia, so this match gets top billing. And it should be Belgium that comes out on top -- after all, Serbia has already drew with Scotland, which would be sadder if Scotland were determined to score more than one goal in all of qualifying. Serbia, on the other hand, managed a 6-1 blowout, but then again, that was Wales. In other words, they haven't had a suitable opponent thus far. The Serbs I know have implied the country will go into meltdown should they not qualify for the World Cup. Siniša Mihajlović's side will have to get all three points against Belgium if they want to get to Brazil.

As for the next round, everything looks utterly boring, and I include Spain - France in that. Did you not see their Euro match? I needed three drinks just to get through one half.

Gareth: I may expand on this thought, but I don't give a shit about international football outside of the major tournaments and fully intend to ignore this weekend's fixtures.

Robert: I tend to think like Gareth does, and international breaks just frustrate the heck out of me. That said, I'll probably watch the US take on Antigua and Barbuda followed by their match with Guatemala. As a bonus, unless Benteke sees some time, it'll probably be our only chances to see Villans on a pitch anywhere this week!

Aaron: I'll watch whatever is easily accessible if I happen to be in front of the TV, but like Gareth I find it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for international football unless I have a rooting interest, and Jurgen Klinsmann has very nearly destroyed my capacity to be at all excited for US national team games. Once it gets into the later World Cup qualification stages I'm sure I'll be a bit more invested, but this weekend I plan to enjoy having an entire two days that allow me to forget that football even exists if I so choose.