Land of missed opportunities

We few, we sorry few, who were in attendance at Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday night won’t be mourning the passing of the August friendly, as FIFA prepare to launch their brave new world of ‘bundled’ internationals.

And you can count in players and managers too since, on the eve of a new season, they’re the ones with most to lose from any friendly fire that might erupt. Mind, there was never much chance of anything combustible happening in Cardiff, the Wales-Ireland game being played at such a pedestrian pace it might have been organised as a tribute to Rob Heffernan – not, of course, that it ever threatened to match our new hero’s blistering speed.

Still, we should note that not all the friendly fixtures in mid-week succumbed to the seasonal doldrums. Scotland and England served up a bit of a thriller at Wembley, for example.