Do friendlies really matter?

There's a nice article over at FIFAWorldCup.com about how various successful World Cup teams have fared in friendly matches leading up to the tournament. The verdict: most winners and finalists have had good records in warmup matches, though there have been some notable exceptions. It's a great read for the soccer trivia obsessive, and has some interesting historical notes. I didn't know that prior to France 98, the hosts were far from favorites, having had a miserable series of pre-tournament matches. That should be heartening news for Germany following their miserable 4-1 loss to Italy earlier this month.