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A friendly match is generally a match where there is no competitive value of any kind, and most times quality of play is valued over the result. However, given the highly competitive nature of professional sports (and usually the lack of punishment from officiating bodies afterwards), "friendly" matches often end up being less of an example of fair play than the name would suggest.
Football (Soccer)
In Football, friendly matches (friendlies) are usually pre-season games where there are no trophies or titles to be awarded and some rules changed (such as unlimited substitutions and no cards). Although many of the teams nowadays rather compete in weekend quadrangular tournaments (such as the Teresa Herrera Trophy), friendly matches are still used for team presentations or included in transfer deals between the teams.
Today, the term "friendly match" is used in connection with international matches, although occasionally preparation match is used instead. Players can be booked in international friendlies, and can be suspended from future international matches based on red cards or accumulated yellows in a specified period. Caps and goals also count towards a player's record in an international friendly match.
In 2004, FIFA ruled that substitutions by a team be limited to six per match in international friendlies.
External links
"Friendly match"