International Class?

I think it’s fair to say that the recent International break has been very interesting. Not for England, mind, but the other British nations have been doing quite well and have set themselves up for great campaigns. England on the other hand, if you believe the media, have been playing some Under 8’s teams and only beat them 5-0 and 1-0. The teams in question are San Marino and Estonia, two nations with a population smaller than the vast majority of British cities. Many a journalist and pundit has been questioning, should these teams even be allowed to play? Should they be put in a pre-qualification group first? England shouldn’t be playing ‘the likes of’ San Marino.

 

I want to be all negative about the idea, dismiss it as arrogance, but I’ll admit that I can’t decide whether or not the idea of a pre-qualification group would be a good or bad thing for football in these countries. I'm on the fence. I can see the argument that it will give those ‘smaller’ nations a greater opportunity of playing attacking football and getting a result, but on the other hand, let’s just say that San Marino do win a couple of games and progress to the ‘proper’ qualifying stage, with no recent experience of playing the top sides, they are more than likely to receive another heavy beating anyway. So what’s the point? 

I’ll admit that the two games weren’t great to watch, but that’s the luck of the draw. England’s group isn’t the most taxing (which is probably a good thing, because the quality in our play isn’t good enough at the moment) and we’ll probably breeze through, winning all of our matches. Saying that, is playing San Marino and Estonia good for where England want to be? Is it a good enough test? At the moment, I’ll probably say, yes it is. We need to learn how to playing attacking football with a squad that is very young and inexperienced and I think, especially travelling away, a less-taxing international football game would quietly slip them into a confident style of play. Eventually. Hopefully. On their day, Estonia are a dangerous side and similarly in this group, Lithuania are also capable of springing a surprise. But where does that leave San Marino? All they seem to do is pack men behind the ball and try to keep the score down. What’s the point? Is it worth it to potentially see our millionaire darlings to pick up an injury in a match that you could play League Two players in and still win handsomely? I think we sometimes forget what football SHOULD be about, it was about representing your local area, your workplace, your school in a game of football. It didn’t matter how rich or poor you were, where you were from or who you knew - you were all equal on a football pitch. It then got more organised, national teams were formed, players got better. You may not be able to play for your hometown or workplace anymore, but you could still play for your country. You could still be proud to represent the people who made you what you are, in an environment of fun and fair play. And even though they aren’t very good at football, I think it’s worth remembering that these smaller nations have more pride than the England players do at representing their country, their people and themselves, even when they get battered every match, I can guarantee that. That’s ‘the point’ in San Marino. 

I think it’s interesting to learn that Iceland, with a population LESS than Wigan Borough, beat Holland during the week and are looking good to qualify for Euro 2016. England beat them 6-1 in a friendly prior to Euro 2004 and the Icelandic team were seen as on a par with ‘the likes of’ (how I despise that term) a smaller country with no footballing hope, like a Estonia or taking it further afield, perennial struggles, Malta, by the general football media. So what’s changed? Investment in coaches and facilities in a country where outdoor sports like football is extremely difficult to play all year round, has seen a production line of players that are just starting to come to the fore. Iceland, coincidentally, is a pretty well-off country and is able to afford these facilities and offer youngsters organised football. For smaller countries, who don’t have the ability to trade huge amounts of goods, so are therefore relatively poor, the ‘likes of’ Estonia (whose population is over 4 times the size of Iceland’s) and Malta (twice as many people as Iceland) struggle to offer people the same facilities that the people enjoy in Iceland. There’s also the fact that many of these smaller countries are relatively recently-formed or independent (Estonia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991) so are already behind many countries with organised governments, let alone their football.

Personally, I think UEFA, who want to continue the message of football is for everybody, need to step in and work with governments to try and start investing and offering people proper facilities and organisation in these countries. It’s the only way that their football will get better, just cutting them off from the so-called bigger boys, patting them on the head, and abandoning them in another class, probably won’t teach them anything. It may not help countries with tiny populations like San Marino and Gibraltar (who have lost all of their qualifying games heavily so far) to improve massively, but it'll at least give their people the opportunity to improve. And I think not giving out opportunities to everyone, no matter who they are, is one of the worst things about the world.

I think I've decided which side of the fence I'm sitting on!