Why do we bother?

Behold, Your England captain, the last man standing

Tomorrow has enough drama going for it — something about World Cup play-offs in Dublin, Lisbon, Moscow and Athens, as well as the 2nd leg (at 2am tomorrow morning) of the NZ-Bahrain tilt — but of course, the English are drawn to the media like moths to a withering flame. And the journalists gladly oblige.

All the hubbub surrounds a few members of the squad pulling up lame on the eve of a money-generating, utterly useless friendly with Brazil being held in Qatar. Remind me again why we had to use this free weekend?

Glen Johnson was out earlier this week. Gerrard never had a chance. Then it was Beckham, miraculously opting to fulfill more pressing MLS duties. Then Heskey. Then Ashley Cole. Then David James, and Rio, and then Frank Lampard tore his thigh, and now captain John Terry twisted his ankle and likely won’t be risked.

Still, it’s not like Brazil is that much more interested — Robinho pulled out, as did Fabio Aurelio, Luisao, and Ramires.

I imagine the money up for grabs must be immense to even make this worth pulling off. A friendly with a second-choice team on an off-week amid a crowded domestic schedule isn’t exactly a money-spinner. We get the game for free on FSC, and I don’t think it’s a PPV game back in England, either, so where’s the largesse coming from? Enjoy the 2-1 Brazil win tomorrow while there are games of serious consequence going on.