Torneio Internacional Brasilia - Dec 2015

Just confirmed via the Mexican FA but details are minimal at the moment.

That's a first, we don't usually do anything in December. Not particularly stellar opposition for a trek all the way to South America but I suppose it's something. I wonder if it is in place of the La Manga training camp which usually falls in January but which we didn't bother with this year.

If this year's tournament follows the same schedule as its previous editions then it will very likely fall in the middle two weeks of the month. It will be a four-team group stage with each team playing the others once, then 1st vs 2nd and 3rd vs 4th.

We have a Euro's qualifier at home on November 29th. It probably only gives us about a week between the qualifier and travelling to the tournament, and since everybody's club commitments will be finished for the year prior to the Estonia game, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up combining the qualifier and the tournament into one big training window and we haul 30+ players off to St George's Park in the run up and use that camp to decide who makes the squads for both.

Anonymous wrote:That's a first, we don't usually do anything in December. Not particularly stellar opposition for a trek all the way to South America but I suppose it's something. I wonder if it is in place of the La Manga training camp which usually falls in January but which we didn't bother with this year.

It would have been nice to have an Asian/Oceania opponent like S. Korea or New Zealand instead of Mexico. I hope we continue to participate in tournaments like this. I wouldn't be opposed if Mark took a more inexperienced squad to this for the exposure.

When the USA went last year they took about 24/25 players with them and nobody else had that many, so the squad regs appear to be pretty relaxed. It should allow for us to take a large selection anyway should we choose to do that.

There were a couple of tweets doing the rounds yesterday rubbishing this and saying the Mexican FA got it wrong. So that is an away friendly against the USA and now this tournament which have all been 'confirmed' by other FA's and then denied by us and were all supposedly to happen at the same time of year. Bit weird.

There were a couple of tweets doing the rounds yesterday rubbishing this and saying the Mexican FA got it wrong. So that is an away friendly against the USA and now this tournament which have all been 'confirmed' by other FA's and then denied by us and were all supposedly to happen at the same time of year. Bit weird.

IIRC the friendly against the USA was never 'confirmed' by the USSF. It was rumour on a football website over there, the USSF denied the fixture around the same time as our FA released a statement. The Mexican FA isn't actually the host of the Torneio Internacional Brasilia so any statement they release out besides confirming they are going should be considered hearsay. I'd imagine the FA was probably asked to do both and that's where these rumours came from. It just shows you that unless it comes from the FA, any rumors of us playing in any other country should be taking with a grain of salt.

I actually don't understand why the FA would schedule a friendly or tournament until the first of the year. Let the girls have a long over due rest after the league ends, they've earned it and it's not like we have an Olympics to gear up for.