This world cup has only served to highlight the problems that exist in the sport; With the best players in the world failing to perform at the level they are expected to, and questions asked over the commitment of the players who play in the top professional club leagues around the world.

Increasingly, we are seeing nations who were not traditionally 'big' footballing nations do well, and the larger nations who have the grreater heritage in the sport failing.

I think this is because professional club football and international football played for the nation have become two separate sports... the one, club football, like your favourite soap opera, which you follow and see the development of individual characters and storylines, the other, international football, is like a movie, a rare and grand spectacle.

Club football focuses on the development of skill, understandings built within the squad, and the football itself... for it's own sake.

International football requires a greater share of other qualities... pride, determination, organisation.

So I suggest that we cease asking professionals to ply their talents for free to exercise qualities better suited to others... and make international football entirely AMATEUR

This would follow other sports... in particular boxing, in which the boxer competes for their country at amateur level until they are ready to 'turn professional' and pusue learning the craft for it's own sake, and not for national pride especially.

This would ensure that the international footballers are competing on equal terms with other nations, reduce the number of games the pro players have to play in the domestic season, thus improving the quality of their output for the club, and guarantee commitment and determinaion from players awarded the honour of playing for their country, as they have an opportunity not previously available to them.

This would also reduce the incidence of injury to the club's players at international level, which are their assests, and in whom they invest heavily, reducing things like insurance premiums on the player club expenditure and consequently maybe ticket prices for fans.

They are nearly there with olympic football, I say do it across the board, and solve several problems at once.