Club v Country Is Never Far Away

Whenever a major tournament arises, we’re sure to hear about the bitter battle between national teams and domestic clubs – especially if Michael Owen is involved (he’s not this time, in case you hadn’t heard). In the last couple days two different countries have taken exception to the tight grip of clubs, first in the case of Switzerland and Lyon, who are fighting desperately over over Patrick Muller, and between Portugal and Real, who both want them some Pepe.

Seems CBs are en vogue, eh?

The Lyon-Switzerland situation is a bit dicier, and I’ll let Inara from the Lyon Offside give the story, as she knows much better than I:

Ever since the happy news that Muller was among the Swiss call ups for Euro 2008, it’s been a race against time as he works to reach an adequate fitness level. Kobi Kuhn, Switzerland’s manager, had hoped that Muller’s participation in a friendly against Slovakia this weekend would help expedite matters. Lyon had also agreed to release Muller earlier than the other players (who are preparing for this weekend’s Coupe de France final).

Unfortunately for Kuhn, Lyon went back on their word when Jean-Alain Boumsong, Lyon’s third choice CB, pulled a muscle last week…While Kuhn would be happy to allow Muller to remain for the final, it would be only be worthwhile if he played. However, it looks unlikely Muller will take the field against PSG, so Kuhn would rather Muller return to Switzerland in order to play against Slovakia.

This is a fairly big deal because if Muller doesn’t play this weekend there’s a good chance he’ll be dropped from the squad simply because he’s been out for so long. So Switzerland is considering making use of FIFA’s 14 day clause, forcing teams to release national players two weeks before a tournament.

Pepe’s case is a little less confusing and injury-plagued. Real Madrid simply wants him to take part in a friendly in Saudia Arabia, leaving him unavailable to the Portuguese NT until next Wednesday, the 21st. This makes Big Phil an unhappy camper, and nobody likes an unhappy Big Phil.

“Things are not always as we wish,” he told TVI. “We collaborated with Real Madrid in previous situations, but this time the Spanish club did not understand the federation’s request.

“Real Madrid say the law is on their side, we and the player have to respect that, knowing that, in the future, we will have the law on our side and we might use it…”

Maybe it’s me, but is Pepe really an integral piece to a friendly in Saudia Arabia? I can see if we’re talking Messi or Beckham, but Pepe? Is he that important from a PR standpoint? And don’t they have like seven world class CBs they can plug in instead? Seems rather petty from Real.

And really, can’t everyone just get along?