Kolkata: The response to the new, reshaped and longer international window has been mixed. Maybe even a South America-Europe divide. Competing in the Nations League, Xavi and Luis de Fuente have said they were against it. For Uruguay coach Diego Forlan and Brazil’s Carlo Ancelotti, the opportunity to spend more time with the national team has been a blessing as they try and shake off a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Beginning on September 21, this break is for 16 days and ends on Tuesday when India host Uruguay at the Salt Lake stadium. Teams can play a maximum of four games in this window, FIFA has said after merging the September and October FIFA dates.
“This schedule is not good. Not for the national teams and not for the clubs that release their players and sometimes see them return injured,” Xavi, the Netherlands coach, said before Sunday’s 2-1 win against Serbia in a Nations League group game in Eindhoven. “Such a packed calendar three months after a World Cup is asking for trouble.”
Spain coach Luis De la Fuente has said he preferred the earlier nine-day window.
In a bid to manage workload and also see fresh players, Germany’s new coach Juergen Klopp named a 44-member squad ahead of matches against Netherlands, Greece home and away, and Serbia.
Contrast that with how Brazil and Uruguay have approached this window. With matches against teams from Africa and Europe ruled out — the former is playing the 2027 Cup of Nations qualifiers — they have travelled to Asia. “This is not a test but an opportunity. I am still finding my final squad,” said Ancelotti here on Friday.
He handed debuts to goalkeeper Pedro Morisco and defender Arthur Dias in the 4-0 win against India. Four more played for Brazil for the first time in the two friendlies in Australia. Forlan made his debut against Japan as national team head coach and spoke on Monday about the chance to enjoy 20 days together.
“This is the first tine we can play three or four friendly games. We chose three because there was lot of travel involved, going to Japan, South Korea and India. So, the time you have, you try to enjoy as much as you can.”
Appointed till March 2027, Forlan said Uruguay were better in South Korea than in Japan because of their time together. The players had met one day before the game against Japan, said Forlan, referring to the 1-3 defeat to Japan. “Of course, some of us we knew from our country but we didn’t have the opportunity to know each other as professionals. After four days, we had a really difficult game against Korea but we had had more time for the players to rest and know each other.” Uruguay won 4-1.
The longer window has also helped Uruguay spend six days in Kolkata and acclimatise. The weather in Japan and South Korea was very different, said Forlan. “Also, we had more days to work and more days to rest.”
A pet peeve of national team coaches is lack of time with players. Forlan said he knew what he was signing up for. “The time that you will have will be different from being a manager at a club. It’s been that way for so many years and it will be the same. So, I was not complaining.” Not that he is now.