Internationals are just sh*t and should be scrapped. Simply on a sporting level it's no good because these teams spend only about five weeks a year together. How is it possible to forge a style and an understanding with such limited time? And each nation is stuck with what they've got. They can't go and buy a right back so their style is forced upon them by the accidental pool of talent. The CL produces far better teams than the World Cup, so does the PL. Then of course the nationalism stinks, the thick thug fans stink. I never watched any of them since childhood, always want England out as soon as possible to avoid the sickening jingoism, and only hope that Liverpool players escape the nonsense injury free.
I have to disagree with you here. I come from Belgium, a country where there is a strong divide between the north and south (different language, culture, etc.). Patriotism is almost non existent. When it comes to football, our national team used to be utter crap and as a result, very few people cared about it. Then came our so called 'Golden Generation'. With that team came results and people started to care again. Then something amazing happened. Football brought all Belgians together. Not only did it bring unity, but people from all over the country were proud to identify as Belgian again.
Now, I'm not saying football cured everything but for a time, it really helped.
As for your first point, I believe with time and a manager that has a clear vision, it is entirely possible to create a real team. Just look at the last World Cup winners: Spain, Germany and France. Hell, you could even add the last finalist Croatia to the mix. They all won with a group that was used to play together. It didn't happen overnight and was not only down to the quality of their players (though it didn't hurt).
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