Do we really need pre-World Cup friendly matches?

In this May 31, 2014, photo, Mexico’s Luis Montes collides with Ecuador’s Segundo Castillo, rear, as the two were competing for the ball during the first half of a friendly soccer match, in Arlington, Texas. Montes, who took the brunt of the collision was stretchered off the pitch after fracturing his right tibia and fibula. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Montes and Castillo are both out of the World Cup now, while the status of Marquez is uncertain. Ghana, who draws the United States in World Cup group play, was also dealt an injury blow when defender Jerry Akaminko went down with an ankle injury.

Akaminko was carted off the field on a stretcher and his World Cup participation is in doubt as well. The injuries didn’t stop there as Colombia’s Alexander Mejia was carried off the field after taking a hit from Senegal’s Ibrahima Seck who was subsequently ejected from the game.

Then across the pond at London’s Craven Cottage, not even the friendly between Italy and Ireland was safe from the injury bug. Italian midfielder Riccardo Montolivo suffered a broken leg –according to multiple reports- and he will surely miss the big event in Brazil.

To make matter worse….. His replacement, Alberto Aquilani, would later leave the game with a concussion. So now all of these teams will have to reach into their reserve rosters to replace some of these men. It’s not exactly what anybody had planned so close to cup time.

World Cup warm-up matches have more cons than pros

At the end of the day however, it begs the question as to whether or not international friendlies should be played so close to the start of the World Cup. There are more cons than pros in this case, as the only positives are ticket sales, television time and a chance for fans to see their native teams in person.

By the time these exhibitions begin most teams already has their 23-man rosters set. Obviously, those 23 men are the best players in their respective countries. The last thing anybody wants is to lose any player and hurt their chances of winning the golden trophy in July.

SEE ALSO: Top 5 players to have never played a World Cup

The other issue at hand is that these players had more than enough reps with long practices, training sessions which last weeks at a time, and the grueling qualifying games which span over a one-year period, sometimes longer. It can be very taxing on these players both physically and mentally.

I’m not completely against having warm-up games before the World Cup but I don’t believe that there should be so many of these games. Perhaps just one exhibition game would be enough to satisfy the fans before the real games begin.

Every team has their best chance of winning when all of their top players are healthy and ready to go. With some countries, the hopes of each team can live or die with just one or two players. The level of competition won’t go down, but not having some of these big name players involved will reduce the fanfare to some degree.