PARIS -- Every two years or so, particularly those of us who live in Europe and whose teams pretty much take qualifying for a World Cup or continental championship for granted, awake from our club-induced torpor to take notice of our national sides.
Outside of that, for most, it's all about the club game. We don't sit and agonize over who might be called up for that friendly against Lithuania in two months' time. We don't worry about whether 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 is the way forward. In fact, when we do get our international break, we often hate it because it interrupts the reassuring weekly ritual of league football.