HIDDEN within a raft of Euro 2024 qualifiers this weekend and into next week lies the final of the Uefa Nations League, which takes place tomorrow evening between Croatia and Spain.

Just when football fans thought the season had ended with last weekend’s Champions League final, many of the players that featured in that season, and indeed in that final itself, are back on the pitch.

A season that paused for an unusually placed World Cup in November and December, but hasn’t paused for breath, continues.

Amid concerns that this is too much football, especially for players who are asked to constantly perform at a high level physically and mentally without a break, it is the international game that is always portrayed as an unnecessary extra.

We are constantly being told how much this latest match or tournament in the club game actually means. Broadcasters inform viewers how much the magic of the FA Cup still matters when few will have questioned this in the first place.

Liverpool once told fans “This Means More,” when how much it means is already firmly established.

And there are constant assertions and reminders that the Premier League is the best league in the world and games on a Sunday are all Super.

International football, meanwhile, is often seen as a distraction. Any questioning of the relevance of the international game isn’t always backed up with the same hype that surrounds club fixtures.

It can be seen as an inconvenience to clubs who don’t want their players getting tired, or worse, injured on international duty and then not being able to perform on their return.

These same clubs will be happy enough organising unnecessary pre-season tours, making players traipse around the globe with tough schedules that can also eat into a manager’s pre-season preparations.

This isn’t to say that touring club sides are not a positive aspect of the game. Club tours have been part of football for as long as travel has allowed.

From the early 19th century teams have taken their show on the road to pit themselves against clubs in other countries while also looking to grow their reputation worldwide.

Today these tours reward fans from overseas who invest time and money into following their clubs throughout the season.

These are almost always lucrative for the clubs, and as with Uefa’s expansion of the Champions League, more games mean more money.

Netherlands and Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong raised some valid concerns last week regarding the number of games players are being asked to play, but once again international football was stated as the added annoyance.

“Our schedule is just getting fuller,” De Jong told De Telegraf. 

“There is also a game for third and fourth place in the Nations League—literally nobody is waiting for this.

“There will be a new format for the Champions League with more games just so Uefa can earn more money.”

De Jong is right to criticise Uefa’s Champions League rejig, which is very much like a European Super League in disguise.

Uefa is unnecessarily changing the format of a club football tournament which, despite all the external issues currently riddling top-level football off the pitch, remains one of the most popular and entertaining tournaments on it.

But the Nations League he derides alongside this has generally been a success, perhaps surprisingly so, and could be an important addition to the global game.

It has given teams lower down the international football rankings a chance to play those on a similar level to them, leading to competitive games and wins for nations that have rarely won throughout their history.

This in turn helps these nations develop positive football ideas, as opposed to just turning up for a Euro or World Cup qualifier against a team with a larger pool of players and greater resources and merely trying to limit the damage.

Concacaf’s own Nations League certainly mattered when the United States and Mexico met in a fiery semi-final encounter on Thursday night in Las Vegas. 

The US ran out 3-0 winners in a game that will go down in the history of this rivalry. 

Particularly the scene of Weston McKennie kissing the USA badge on his ripped shirt after being sent off following one of the numerous scuffles which saw the US finish the game with nine men and Mexico with 10.

International football is also free from the sideshow that is the transfer market. 

Though some players are eligible to play international football for more than one country, which can lead to a tug of war between those countries to get a player to commit to them, it is generally a simpler, less contaminated affair when compared to the club game at the top level.

It is not without its issues and not without its geopolitical interference and political problems, but it is generally more straightforward.

Coaches and national associations have a pool of players from which to pick and have to do the best with what they have.

Even though money and resources play a part, a rich nation cannot go out and sign players to tilt the scales further in their favour in the way a club can.

Ahead of his side’s Uefa Nations League semi-final against De Jong’s Netherlands, Croatia captain Luka Modric said: “It would be amazing to lift this trophy with Croatia, it would be a dream come true.”

It’s perhaps no surprise then, given the different attitudes of De Jong and Modric, that it was Croatia who progressed to face Spain tomorrow night in a final in Rotterdam. The magic of the cup indeed.