Day -991 WorldCup2022
I wasn't planning anything today but then came across this story and felt the need to make a countdown post out of it.
Zimbabwe may not have a stadium to host their World Cup qualifiers, starting in October of this year. They have 2 more African Cup of Nations qualifiers to host before that (this month and September), making the issue quite pressing. The African Confederation (CAF) have deemed all 3 of the main stadiums in the country to be not fit to host international matches.
This sets off a few worrisome issues in my head. Zimbabwe, by all news accounts, has had it's fair share of hardships over the last few years, lives lived in ways that the majority of us cannot even imagine. As very often happens, wouldn't sport, football in this case, be a good distraction, a way to create a bit of a feel good factor in the country? And, maybe, even a way to unite the divisions that split the country so badly for a number of years. Isn't taking international football away from them another kick in the teeth for the suffering country? And wouldn't the sight on TV( (for those who can watch) of their country playing "home" matches in another country be another humiliation that the poor Zimbabweans don't need?
So let them play. Give them that. Are the stadiums really that bad? Are they unsafe? Is their a risk to spectators' lives? If so, where is Fifa's money, Fifa's mandate to help developing football countries all over the world. Wasn't that the rationale for justifying the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar, to take football to new markets. But what do the Zimbabweans think of the billions of dollars being spent in Qatar on fancy new hotels, roads, airports, stadiums when they can't even get what is needed to refurbish one stadium.
And then there's my contradictory self-argument. If money does come, from the government or Fifa or another international organization, wouldn't it be better spent on something more important for the majority of Zimbabweans than a football stadium? There are many initiatives, and investments, that would improve their life.
In the end the injustice is always unfair, and the poor countries always seem to suffer more.
Thursday 5 March 2020
Wednesday 4 March 2020
Guam!
Day -992 WorldCup2022
One thing I enjoy about paying attention to the World Cup three years before it starts is following results of countries who you would never really associate with football news. It's a chance for these small nations to dream for a little bit. I'm Maltese. I understand this. I also understand the very quick quashing of these ridiculous dreams.
Take Guam for example. They made it to the second round of qualifying after beating Bhutan 5-1 on aggregate. In this group stage they have lost to the Maldives twice and lost their other matches 4-1, 7-0 and 4-0. The US territory Pacific Island only won their first World Cup qualifying match in 2015, against Turkmenistan. They followed it up with a 2-1 win against the much higher ranked India. I bet that had the 180,000 Guam residents dreaming big.
It looks like it's over again for another 4 years, but it's good while it is lasting. Let us small island people have our fun.
One thing I enjoy about paying attention to the World Cup three years before it starts is following results of countries who you would never really associate with football news. It's a chance for these small nations to dream for a little bit. I'm Maltese. I understand this. I also understand the very quick quashing of these ridiculous dreams.
Take Guam for example. They made it to the second round of qualifying after beating Bhutan 5-1 on aggregate. In this group stage they have lost to the Maldives twice and lost their other matches 4-1, 7-0 and 4-0. The US territory Pacific Island only won their first World Cup qualifying match in 2015, against Turkmenistan. They followed it up with a 2-1 win against the much higher ranked India. I bet that had the 180,000 Guam residents dreaming big.
It looks like it's over again for another 4 years, but it's good while it is lasting. Let us small island people have our fun.
Monday 2 March 2020
Nations League. Yes, that again.
Day -994 WorldCup2022
The European qualifying journey to 2022 starts tomorrow, kind of. The draw for UEFA's 2020/21 Nations League will happen and there is an indirect route to Qatar possible.
If you never understood the first edition of the Nations League and who qualified for Euro 2020 and who didn't, and who made it to the playoffs for the Euros, and who didn't win their Nations League group or qualify for the Euros through their Euro qualifying group but still made it the Euro qualifying play-offs at a different level than the league they were originally in, well then it's a lot easier this time. Easier in a way that University undergraduate level Physics is easier than Ph.d Physics.
There are no guaranteed World Cup spots at the end of all the matches that will happen between September and November of this year. The top 4 teams in Division A of the Nations League will play in the Nations League finals in June, the same thing as what Portugal won last year. The top teams of Divisions B, C and D will be promoted and the bottom teams relegated, except of course for Division D. There are 4 groups in each of the top 3 divisions but only 2 in D, so the 4 bottom teams of division C will play off to determine two relegated teams.
The top 10 teams of the World Cup qualifying groups will be in the Qatar. The 10 runners up will be in the play-offs, along with the top two group winners from the Nations League who didn't win a World Cup qualifying group or finish 2nd. That means 12 teams will be in the play-offs and 3 teams will end up qualifying for Qatar.
Got it? Yes, back to that Ph.D. Someone may have figured this out by the time you're done.
Or UEFA will have tinkered with their new competition, again. Because here's the fun part, the bit where you read the very serious description of the new format and laugh at how predictable it was that this was going to happen. Cast your mind back to the last Nations League and remember this bombshell: Germany relegated. How could that ever happen, we wondered? How could UEFA dream up a competition where Germany get relegated? As we looked forward to the prospect of German playing in Division B, how many of you thought: either Germany will just refuse to play or UEFA will move the goalposts to stop this humiliation happening. And that's what they did. UEFA decided Divisions A, B and C will now have 16 teams each, rather than 12 and so, lo and behold, any country relegated last time will not actually be relegated. Problem solved.
The European qualifying journey to 2022 starts tomorrow, kind of. The draw for UEFA's 2020/21 Nations League will happen and there is an indirect route to Qatar possible.
If you never understood the first edition of the Nations League and who qualified for Euro 2020 and who didn't, and who made it to the playoffs for the Euros, and who didn't win their Nations League group or qualify for the Euros through their Euro qualifying group but still made it the Euro qualifying play-offs at a different level than the league they were originally in, well then it's a lot easier this time. Easier in a way that University undergraduate level Physics is easier than Ph.d Physics.
There are no guaranteed World Cup spots at the end of all the matches that will happen between September and November of this year. The top 4 teams in Division A of the Nations League will play in the Nations League finals in June, the same thing as what Portugal won last year. The top teams of Divisions B, C and D will be promoted and the bottom teams relegated, except of course for Division D. There are 4 groups in each of the top 3 divisions but only 2 in D, so the 4 bottom teams of division C will play off to determine two relegated teams.
The top 10 teams of the World Cup qualifying groups will be in the Qatar. The 10 runners up will be in the play-offs, along with the top two group winners from the Nations League who didn't win a World Cup qualifying group or finish 2nd. That means 12 teams will be in the play-offs and 3 teams will end up qualifying for Qatar.
Got it? Yes, back to that Ph.D. Someone may have figured this out by the time you're done.
Or UEFA will have tinkered with their new competition, again. Because here's the fun part, the bit where you read the very serious description of the new format and laugh at how predictable it was that this was going to happen. Cast your mind back to the last Nations League and remember this bombshell: Germany relegated. How could that ever happen, we wondered? How could UEFA dream up a competition where Germany get relegated? As we looked forward to the prospect of German playing in Division B, how many of you thought: either Germany will just refuse to play or UEFA will move the goalposts to stop this humiliation happening. And that's what they did. UEFA decided Divisions A, B and C will now have 16 teams each, rather than 12 and so, lo and behold, any country relegated last time will not actually be relegated. Problem solved.
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