Benayoun is back to boost Chelsea, and five things we learned from the midweek internationals

Chelsea’s Premier League title charge gained momentum on Tuesday…. in Israel

The Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv might not appear to be the most obvious place for Chelsea’s Premier League title bid to be ignited. But the re-emergence of Yossi Benayoun after six months out through an ankle injury sustained on international duty could prove to be a watershed moment for the the club’s season.

The Israel captain played an impressive 20 minute cameo during his side’s 1-0 win over Georgia and recommenced training with his the Blues around three weeks ago. Carlo Ancelotti has been deprived of the craft and guile of the 30-year-old for most of the season and Chelsea’s new 4-4-2 formation may have been conceived with Benayoun, in a playmaker role, in mind.

And why? Two words – Fernando Torres.

The Spaniard has been out of sorts in recent months, in case you have been living under a rock, but the return of his good friend and former Liverpool room-mate Benayoun could light the touchpaper on his season. It was reported last summer that the signing of Benayoun was the first step in the process to sign Torres.

The 27-year-old forward is a huge admirer of the schemer, saying in 2009 while Benayoun was out of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool side: “For me he should always play because I need a player like him with quality in the pass and always looking forward, looking for the striker. I always say to him that if I was the manager he’d always play with me.”

A familiar face, a fellow Spanish speaker and, moreover, a player with whom Torres has a genuine understanding could prove sufficient comforts for the £50m man to find his smile and his goals.

South African players need to start behaving themselves

The World Cup in South Africa last summer was deemed a success and the national football team were lauded for their performances despite being eliminated at the earliest juncture. Bafana Bafana rode a wave of goodwill and carried momentum into their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification process. By virtue of their last-minute win over Egypt on Saturday, they top the listings while the reigning holders face an arduous fight-back just to emerge from the preliminary stages.

However, despite the on-field success of the side, South African players have let themselves down over the past few days.

First, Aaron Mokoena, once captain but now dropped, called a press conference to distance himself from rumours that he had been a ‘distraction’ for the team. Reports of his alleged involvement with the partner of team-mate Kagisho Dikgacoi betray this claim.

Then, mere hours after giving his side three points against Egypt, Katlego Mphela was arrested in Johannesburg for drink driving. It brought what should have been a successful week all round for Bafana Bafana to an untidy and shameful close.

In England the alleged antics of John Terry, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney have brought ignominy on the domestic game and led to a dilution of interest and care in the national team’s performances. In South Africa, where football competes with rugby and cricket for a place in the national sporting consciousness, Bafana Bafana players would do well to remind themselves of their place as role models.

The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina is killing football in the country

On Tuesday the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NSBiH) voted to reject new statutes demanded by Fifa and Uefa. As a result of its action, clubs and national teams will be suspended from international competition from April 1. It is a cataclysmic failing on the part of the association. The game’s governing bodies decreed that the NSBiH should reorganise its structure in order to come into line with the national bodies the world over.

The NSBiH is a fragmented, decentralised body which rotates its presidency every 18 months among the territory’s ‘constituent peoples’; Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks. Fifa and Uefa want the implementation of one permanent head as well as the break-up of ethnic regulation of coaching and administration.

Despite the catastrophic effect the ‘no’ vote would have on the country’s football teams and players, 28 of the 60 delegates saw fit to flagrantly disregard Fifa and Uefa’s warning.

“It seems the win over Romania means nothing to these people, I don’t want to blame any ethnic group in particular because everyone is at fault but it should never have come to this. People who voted against the new statutes do not wish Bosnian football well.” Those were the words of the national team coach Safet Susic, who watched his team defeat Romania on Saturday, 2-1, to move within a point of second-placed Belarus in Group D.

Now, as a result of political bickering, the likes of Edin Dzeko, Vedad Ibisevic and Sejad Salihovic face the prospect of being frozen out of the qualification process. Fifa and Uefa may not be the most wholesome or transparent of bodies but they run the game nonetheless and national associations have a duty to obey its directives.

By failing to do so, the NSBiH is sabotaging itself.

Bert van Marwijk enhances his reputation with every passing match

The Dutch are on a roll. The Netherlands have accrued 18 points from 18 during the qualification phase, conceding only five times in six matches. Their demolition of Hungary on Tuesday may not have brought forth the tidiest defensive performance of Bert van Marwijk’s reign but there can be no doubting the attacking verve in the ranks.

The coach dismissed comparisons with Barcelona after Saturday’s win against the Magyars but, whether he likes it or not, Van Marwijk has constructed one of the most watchable and potent international teams in the world. Oranje were heavily, and justifiably, criticised for their strong-arm tactics at the World Cup. Their physicality and cynicism betrayed the spirit of the Dutch game but that sort of pragmatism enforced the notion that the coach could count on different approaches to win different matches.

And winning he has done. It defies belief that, aside from an Australia friendly, the Dutch are undefeated over 90 minutes since Van Marwijk stepped into the role. Their only competitive loss came against Spain after extra-time in the World Cup final.

He has a greater win percentage than any Dutch trainer that preceded him and has instilled a unity and harmony in a previously fractious Holland camp. Moreover, Oranje currently have some of the best and most in-form players on the continent as well as the Euro 2012 qualification process’ top scorer in Klaas Jan Huntelaar. And yet some observers still count them among ‘dark horses’ for the title.

Make no mistake, The Netherlands will go to Euro 2012 among the favourites.

International friendlies should be fun and entertaining

England, at times, can be a tough team to watch. Their football can be dull and uninspiring. Their players have a tendency to be nervous or uninterested. The crowd get on their backs and it all serves to create a maelstrom, a poor spectacle.

But the presence of Ghana and their 20,000-strong support injected a vibrancy and verve into proceedings at Wembley on Tuesday. The atmosphere around the ground was lively and the play on the field was anything but friendly. There was competition. Genuine, tangible competition.

The Black Stars wanted to defeat England, who, in turn, wanted to defeat their adversaries. There was a symbiotic relationship with the viewing public. The players and the crowd were fed mutually by each others’ energy. Neither team played cautiously. Neither team played with fear or apprehension. There was little in the way of processional football. It was a fairly and keenly contested match between two enterprising sides. A 1-1 draw at the final whistle brought smiles all round. And is that not the way things should be? There is little at stake so why not go for it?

International friendlies give coaches the chance to experiment with players and, in turn, give players the chance to impress their coaches. They should do so with gumption and an intrepid spirit.

Watching football is supposed to be entertaining. More so in the case of friendlies. It should be like watching Brazil, not Rubin Kazan.

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