A new stop of the teams is coming and a new FIFA friendlys match day. Once again, all the teams in the world train for their respective friendly matches and thus prepare for the next continental qualifiers and tournaments.

I have always been a great enthusiast of the National Teams, it seems to me that the feeling they transmit is incomparable. However, lately I have lost this furor over the overexploitation of this type of matches. And I refer specifically to friendly matches on FIFA dates, which over time become more and more useless.

Last summer the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was held (it would have been a long time ago, but only 3 months have passed since the final), the great event of world football. However, a few weeks later FIFA called a new stoppage of the National Team, when we had not recovered very well from the World Cup hangover.

As I said, I understand that the National Team coaches need to see their players and see who they have, but are 6 FIFA friendlys match days really necessary in the remainder of 2018, just coming out of the World Cup? It seems to me simply ridiculous that every 4 weeks we have to suspend the leagues so that a FIFA date is played.

As I said, the friendlies seem super necessary when you are in the pre-tournament of a major tournament like the America Cup, Eurocup or the World Cup; but to schedule FIFA dates in September, October and November is simply useless in a year where eliminatory games are not played anywhere in the world.

Also, if in these games great football shows are offered, I will buy the idea. But the reality is that the vast majority of friendly matches are regrettable; insipid parties, without emotion or any relevance. In order to solve this problem, UEFA has created a new tournament called the League of UEFA Nations; However, this project is more of a way to exploit the money-making machine called soccer than a real tournament that really means something.

In addition, it seems increasingly clear that friendly matches are useless. If anything, Spain would not have been World Champion in 2010 and Argentina would win every major tournament it faces. At this point, the friendly matches only serve for Neymar to score 8 goals for Taiwan, Agüero scores 6 to Belize and both fatten their lying statistics to be among the top scorers in their respective national teams.

And we still have not talked about the famous "FIFA virus". It is normal that many of the great stars that travel to be able to represent their countries, are injured in inconsequential games and become physically depleted to their respective clubs.

This has caused more and more clubs to retain their players and not lend them for these friendly matches, for fear of injury or to rest and be physically full for the restart of the leagues. In addition, all these extra games plus the long season of clubs that is already exhausting, generates an overload of games which leaves the players practically without any rest between one competition and the other. The reality is that sometimes we forget that players are not machines and all these extra games take their toll at the end of the season, when all the important titles are defined. The world football calendar is good for business, but bad for the player.

Even the same players now decline the calls of their Selections. The cases of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are patent; who prefer to stay in their clubs and not cross the ocean every month to play meaningless games. And if the friendly matches are boring and insipid, imagine now that the big players are refusing to play them!

There is no doubt that the only reason that these useless FIFA dates continue to exist and are increasingly prolific is because FIFA never tires of making money and will find any way to exploit football with more and more games, no matter what happens with the players. A part of me hates every time I hear that a new FIFA date is approaching, I can only wait two weeks of total uselessness while I look forward to the missing days for the restart of the European leagues.