So, England defeated Germany 2-1, and Brazil thrashed Portugal 6-2. There were a few other interesting results, too.

But how much did these matches really mean? Did you watch them?

While Germany had their first loss at Berlin since the 1970s and a defeat for England would have tainted an otherwise good year (apart from the fact they didn’t appear at the European Championships) - the win was essentially in a game of England B versus Germany B.

The question I’m asking is: are these international “friendlies” worth the bother?

If they don’t mean anything they’re just upsetting the increasingly important club seasons across Europe, and if they do — then why are they called “friendlies”? If they want any kind of status then maybe they ought to be renamed as “test matches” or “ranking” matches?

You could never imagine a “friendly” in a sport like rugby union or cricket - so why should the beautiful game tolerate such nonsense?

I mean, had the England v Germany match been a crucial World Cup qualifier, do you really believe that Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard would have been unable to play?

And for those who are involved in these matches — or at least the lead up to them — there is the serious risk that an injury could jeopardise their club involvement or future international involvement.

Look at Theo Walcott for instance. He gets injured training for a friendly match that essentially means very little, and now faces a spell on the sideline at a time when his Arsenal club need him most. If Arsene Wenger disliked friendlies before that happened, he must be seething now.

Now I’m not saying that the international game isn’t important. It is vital to the success of football, and the value of international matches needs to be high — which is perhaps another reason why these friendly games aren’t good. Could they be devaluing the international football brand by having a meaningless match where not all of the top players are involved? Maybe these games could be played by development sides in future? Or an unofficial version of the international team?

Either way, I don’t believe these friendly matches should be played by the supposed elite international teams. These sides and the respect they carry should be reserved for true battles when they fight gritty encounters for World Cup places, or show their flair in regional tournaments.

I understand that international teams still need a good hit out against other sides to help prepare for big matches. So maybe it was just the timing of these matches that really irked me. Most of the important internationals for the year are long since over. England for instance has its next qualifier in April. What did they stand to gain from playing Germany, while missing their top players, in November?

If there is one story that fascinates me in the early season, it’s how many unheralded and unfancied clubs are holding their own with some of Europe’s big boys, not only in their respective leagues, but also in the Champions League.

When Rubin Kazan clinched the Russian Premier League title, it really made me sit up and take notice, because to be honest, even though I have followed football all my life, I knew nothing about this club.

Rubin secured the Russian crown with three matches to play, finishing ahead of all of the traditional title contenders like Spartak, Dinamo and CSKA Moscow, as well as UEFA Cup champions Zenit St.Petersburg.

The side from Kazan has been built around veterans Sergei Rebrov and Sergei Semak with the well-travelled Savo Milosevic contributing a few key goals. Colombian midfielder Christian Noboa adds some South American flair and some of these names will be lighting up the Champions League next season.

1899 Hoffenheim is hoping to duplicate Rubin’s historic feat in Germany.

Who could have predicted that this club, who just three years ago was playing in a regional league, would be topping the Bundesliga ahead of powerhouses such as Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen? With a squad which has no star names, Hoffenheim have defied all the odds by winning eight of their first 11 games.

In Portugal, it’s Leixoes grabbing the headlines. The northern club, that was out of Portugal’s top flight for over 20 seasons, is now leading the way in front of FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting. Being a native of Portugal and having followed the league all my life, it’s a huge surprise to see such a power shift.

Over in the Netherlands, NAC Breda is one of the teams at the top of the Eredivisie. This is a club that has not won a single trophy in its history, yet is battling for the top positions in the league with Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord.

Even in the Premier League, where clubs with small budgets can rarely challenge the traditional fat cats, we can find a cinderella story as Hull City has been able to stay close to the top of the table. Their challenge will surely wane, but manager Phil Brown has masterminded some impressive victories, especially against Arsenal and Tottenham.

Success by the so called “small teams” has also been registered in the top club competition in the world – the Champions League.

Anorthosis Famagusta is the best example of this as the Cypriot side, making its debut this season, has beaten Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, plus, it has even managed to draw against Inter Milan and Werder Bremen.

So what does this all mean? Personally, I would like to believe that it means that although the rich clubs will always have more chances of winning titles, smaller sides with old fashioned qualities like hard work and a team philosophy can also challenge for honors. It makes me believe that money is not all you need to succeed.

In the first hours after his appointment as Portsmouth manager, Tony Adams rang Arsene Wenger, his former boss at Arsenal, to ask for advice. Wenger’s response: “Welcome to hell.”

We can assume the Frenchman was referring to the pressure that’s put on a Premier League manager.

At Portsmouth, Adams will no doubt come under severe scrutiny from fans and media alike, who will pick over his every move and challenge his every call.

Coming to the job with very little actual management experience — he has leapt from coaching assistant at Portsmouth to the top job overnight — his credentials are already being called into question. Unless he can deliver straight away, he faces a difficult future.

How can Adams and other new managers ensure they perform at the top? The likes of Alex Ferguson and Guus Hiddink have managed to stay relatively unscathed in the bigger jobs for years. What gives them the edge?

So, Cristiano Ronaldo is the best footballer in the world.

At least according to his fellow pros at the international players’ union, FIFPro. The union’s annual poll results were announced this week, and the Portuguese star came out on top.

Ronaldo also featured in the short list for the Ballon D’Or, released last week, and was tipped by last year’s winner, Brazilian star Kaka to take that accolade as well.

But, as Manchester United continue to stumble domestically, and Ronaldo himself looks a little out of shape, we can’t help wondering if he really is better than the likes of Fernando Torres, Lionel Messi or Kaka?

What do you think? Does the Portuguese wonder still have it? Or is there someone else who should be taking all the game’s top prizes?

Arsenal captain William Gallas is under fire today, having been photographed leaving a London nightclub in the early hours with an unlit cigarette in his hand.

Arsene Wenger, known in the game for his strict discipline and attention to health and fitness, has condemned his captain’s behaviour as “unacceptable,” although he’s standing by him. (The Frenchman has upset Arsenal fans before with his sulky attitude on the field and occasional dodgy defending.)

Gallas isn’t the first to draw ire for this dirty habit: Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov have also been caught red-handed with a sneaky cig.

Is Wenger right? Is it unacceptable for footballers to smoke? Or does the odd smoky treat make little difference to players at the top of their game?

The long-established right of football fans to barrack and jeer and vent their frustrations was drawn into question by two separate international incidents in this week’s World Cup qualifying matches.

Fans at the friendly between France and Tunisia this week jeered through the French national anthem.

First up was Ashley Cole during England’s 5-1 win over Kazakhstan at Wembley. The Chelsea left back was subjected to a continual chorus of boos after making a disastrous error which handed the visitors a goal at a crucial period during the second half.

Stand-in England captain Rio Ferdinand was quick to jump on a bandwagon saying the disgruntled fans “should be ashamed of themselves” and other teammates also rallied round Cole, who it must be said is hardly the most popular member of the England squad after his well-publicized indiscretions on and off the field.

Fans might have forgiven him for apparently engineering a lucrative move from Arsenal to Chelsea, earning him the nickname “Cashley,” or his alleged cheating on his popular British popstar wife, but the final straw was his abject back pass to an opposition player who could scarcely believe his luck.

Having paid a small fortune in these credit-crunch times to buy a Wembley ticket, might not fans might feel entitled to let off a little steam as England labored to beat the world’s 131st-ranked team whose combined weekly earnings probably don’t match those of Cole?

I would not have been among those jeering Cole — well, perhaps only for a moment — but if the fragile egos of our multi-million-pound footballers cannot stand a few catcalls then heaven help them in the more pressurized atmosphere of the World Cup finals.

Three days later and a furious row erupted as the French national anthem was drowned out before the start of a “friendly” international against Tunisia at the Stade de France in Paris.

The majority of the crowd was of North African origin and it did not appear to affect the French too badly as they ran out 3-1 winners.

But the snubbing of “La Marseillaise” infuriated French politicians and dignitaries who attended the match: the sports minister was summoned to meet president Nicolas Sarkozy, who himself called the incident “scandalous.”

The solution seemed heavy-handed in the extreme as ministers and sports officials threatened to call off matches on the spot if such scenes were repeated.

UEFA chief Michel Platini said the idea was “absurd,” a rare moment of clarity from the former French international hero who recently criticized English teams for losing their identity by playing too many foreign players while neglecting to point out that he had spent much of his playing career playing in Italy for Juventus with a host of other overseas players.

French Communist Party leader Marie-George Buffet, a former sports minister, offered an analysis that is even more uncomfortable for Sarkozy and his government.

“So we stop the match, then what? Is it going to solve the problem of these men and women who in a way are expressing that they don’t feel right in our country?” she said.

All this in a week when European governing body UEFA finally acted decisively to deal with the totally unacceptable racist chanting that occurred in Atletico Madrid’s Champions League game at home to Marseille.

Racist, sexist and homophobic chanting clearly has no place in civilized society. Other forms of barracking used also to be tolerated, but for how much longer?

Over to you: Is booing taboo? Should it be banned?

When a colleague offered me her spare tickets for the England v Kazakhstan game at Wembley stadium, I jumped at the chance to go to my first live football match.

Ashley Cole was booed by many of the 90,000-strong capacity crowd at Wembley.

And I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment and my initial timid shouts of “Go on England,” soon gave way to loud screams, one of which attracted a look of alarm from the young boy in front of me.

Soon I was leaping out of my seat in anticipation every time an England player approached the opposition’s goalmouth.

Although, it did get a little frustrating in the first half as chance after chance was squandered and the half ended in a goalless draw.

Things obviously livened up in the second half with six goals in total, but most of the drama was happening off the pitch, with what seemed like half the crowd booing Chelsea player Ashley Cole, for his, admittedly schoolboy error that landed the Kazakhstan side their only goal.

Initially, I thought it was outrageous when the chorus of boos resounded around the 90,000 capacity stadium. But after the fourth or fifth time, it quickly became tiresome and — to me — unpatriotic.

It was left to a lone Cole supporter in our section to stand up and tell the crowd, in no uncertain terms, how they were unfit to clean Cole’s boots etc. “You’re all effing scum. He’s worth more than all of you put together,” he screamed, fury etched on his face.

That’s probably true, they don’t call him Cashley Cole for nothing!

After that, every time Cole touched the ball and was booed, he would get up and applaud him loudly.

Pretty soon, others in our section (and me) joined him in clapping Cole.

Unfortunately, we were drowned out by the unrelenting sound of booing reverberating around the stadium.

What do you think? Did Ashley Cole deserve to be booed by England fans?

What a breath of fresh air! Luiz Felipe Scolari has reinvigorated Premier League coverage for journalists, giving us plenty of material to analyze and the discuss.

Scolari's unique sense of humor is making Chelsea's news conferences entertaining once again.

After the lack of charisma and personality of the previous Chelsea manager Avram Grant, this is a blessing! It would be fair to say there has not been a love affair so intense between the media and a manager since the arrival of Jose Mourinho.

When the Portuguese coach hit the English shore and proclaimed he was “The Special One”, he gave the English press plenty of meat to sink their teeth into. Scolari may not see himself as being special, but he certainly is a joy to watch and hear.

I have had the pleasure of attending several Scolari press conferences this season, and they have all featured at least one or two comments that have made me smile or chuckle — the so called “gold nuggets”.

There was the first press conference, back in August, when he was asked whether he was going to sign Kaka. His reply? “This is the time for speculation. As well as Kaka, I can sign Joao, Pedro, Ambrosio and also, how about these friends of mine from the Portuguese press? I can sign them too…..”

When he addressed the media before his first Champions League game against Bordeaux, Felipao was at his best. The Brazilian manager was asked if he was planning to rest some players, considering Chelsea had a match against Manchester United four days later. No-one could have predicted his reaction: “I am not resting any players because the match against Bordeaux is the only match I am thinking about. You know why? Because I may die before Sunday. So this match now is the most important!” Classic…

His sense of humor has impressed the traditionally tough English journalists, and if the positive results continue to roll in, then we will surely continue to see the lighthearted and joking nature of Big Phil.

What will happen if Chelsea loses? That’ll be interesting to see… From my time following him in Portugal, I can tell you that he does have quite a temper! Whatever his reaction, one thing is for sure — there should be plenty of material for us journalists to feast on!