Completing the circle

This below is what I wrote 10 years ago to set the scene for what was to come from me in World Cup countdowns and reports. That was me, the young boy in Malta and how I fell in love with the World Cup. It continued, every 4 years since. Forty four years later, I will be living in a World Cup host city as the 2026 edition comes to Toronto. Is it a full circle in life, of sorts? It's going to be here and I want to be a part of it, beyond being a fan in a stadium. The plan, the dream, is to find out what the World Cup means to fans in all the host cities across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. And to take that even further, where in the world can I find the excitement that I felt? 

Two months ago I spent 4 days in England, and went to 4 football matches. From a sold out Wembley Stadium to a few hundred spectators at The EMR Stadium in Tilbury, temporary home of Grays Athletic. I talked football for 4 days, I met interesting people with great stories. And I decided that's what I want to do. The World Cup dream has evolved. Now to get the plan into action.

My conscious life started in 1982, in June 1982. Sure, there may be memory flashes of toys played with and waves washing me up on beaches (!) but it is that summer of which I can recall specific events. Espana '82. It was fun. Everybody around me talked about the "World Cup". And there was no corruption, no politics, no locals protesting about being ignored. No, there was Cameroon, Ziggy Boniek, Paolo Rossi, the eyes of Marco Tardelli and Dino Zoff and Brazil. Dino was my idol, until I was converted, not allowed to like those mean Italians anymore. But more importantly there was Brazil, THAT Brazil.......Zico, Eder, Falcao, Socrates, Junior, Cerezo. They had the exotic names and every night that they played it was an event. And I was in awe. Yes, this world cup thingamabob was fun. I wanted to watch this every summer.

Too young to worry about end of year school exams, this was the summer of being every Brazilian player for a few hours outside every evening until "the match" started. I didn't know, or wouldn't have cared less if there was any controversy. Sure, the Falkland's War had just ended and the Argentinian and English fans didn't really like each other, but what did I know about that. I only knew about Kevin Keegan's bad back, or was it Brooking? Or did Brooking have something else wrong with him? Bryan Robson scored after 27 seconds against France (England are going to win the World Cup!). I thought Northern Ireland were good. They beat Spain even though the referee tried to give Spain a second chance to score a penalty. Controversy? Yes, I learned about that too, but only on the pitch. The Kuwaiti Prince ordered his team off the pitch because he thought it unfair that the French were better than them. Harold Schumacher wasn't sent off for knocking that poor guy out cold? Germany and Austria agreed that Germany would win 1-0. I didn't really get that one for a while.

All of that made it even more wow! This is great stuff. When do they all do this again? Four years? Ah well, at least we can watch Brazil for a couple more weeks. Even that new superstar, Maradona, couldn't stop them. Only Dino. And he did. And Paolo Rossi scored 3 and Brazil were gone. What did I care that Bryan Robson's 27 second goal didn't automatically mean that England would be champions. The disaster was that the Harlem Globetrotters of football were beaten by the oh so boring Italians who didn't even win a match in the first round. They had a "system", apparently. The Brazilians didn't. They just had Zico et al.  And it all seemed so unfair.....another lesson I learned.

So Italy went on and won the whole thing. Rossi scored a few more. And Marco Tardelli's arm waving, eyes bulging goal celebration stuck in my head. Did these players make millions at the time? Were there wives and girlfriends celebrities? Did they have to choose between their personal sponsor's boot and the team's? Did they care more about playing for their club or country? Did Fifa insist that only their sponsors' logos were visible? I don't know and I didn't care. But I did know that Marco Tardelli scored a goal to win the World Cup for his country and he was very, very happy.

And the best team doesn't always win.

Zimbabwe: let them play!

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.

Guam!

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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.

Nations League. Yes, that again.

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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.

Africa: toughest qualifying?

Day -998 WorldCup2022

Before you look there was no Day -999. Bear with me as I figure what I'm going to do with this project this time around.

If you followed me before you'll know that many days were punctuated with stories and updates of Aston Villa's numerous ups and downs. Not World Cup related, but on my mind. So forgive me if I'm a little distracted by the excitement (scratch that, more extreme nervousness and fear) of VIlla's League Cup final against Man City on Sunday. Of course if Villa win the best thing is we can say, from our old school days talk, that we are better than Real Madrid.

A little World Cup talk. The draw for the second round of qualifying in Africa proves once again what a tough, competitive confederation it is and how a couple of countries with a strong World Cup background will miss out. There are 10 groups of 4 teams and only the group winners move on to the final qualifying round, where the 10 teams will be drawn to play in 5 ties over 2 legs. Only 5 countries make it to Qatar.

Ghana and South Africa are in the same group. Ghana should win that group, right? But you always feel South Africa have World Cup pedigree.

Tunisia and Zambia. The experienced Tunisians and the constantly achieving/under-achieving Zambians. They always seem to be good at the wrong time.

But the biggest one must be Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire, two teams who would be high on any list of expected World Cup representatives from Africa.

The long road starts here...again.

Day -1000. WorldCup2002

"The FIFA World Cup 2022 will be a breakthrough from a social and cultural perspective. It will open the doors of this football-mad region, offering a new perspective to locals and foreigners, bringing people together and serving as a tool for common understanding."

That was Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, on the day that Fifa marked 1000 days to the kick-off in Qatar. It's a statement that can be criticized and the validity of it ripped apart. And adding in the numerous rights issues that have come to light during the construction of stadiums in Qatar, there is a lot to talk about before we even get to football.

But with apologies, before I go there, and to keep this first day light, it is almost amusing to report that a lot of 2022 football has happened already.

Last June, before 2019/20 UEFA Champions League qualifiers had happened and before qualifying for Euro 2020 was over, a number of teams in Asia had already been eliminated from 2022 qualifying. Were you looking forward to watching Pakistan or Brunei? Well, too bad. They're out. Another World Cup cycle done for them. East Timor? Beaten 12-2 on aggregate by Malaysia.

Asia has moved on to round 2 already. Syria have won all 5 of their group games so far; Australia and Japan have won 4 out of 4.

In Africa qualifying started last September and it ended in September for countries like Lesotho, Eritrea, Chad, Sierra Leone. There will be no more World Cup dreams for 4 years for fans and players in twelve African countries, long before Europeans or South Americans even think about Qatar.

Another of those twelve eliminated African nations was Eswatini. I threw that country in because it's an example of how I learnt my geography and history through football. Eswatini was Swaziland but in April 2018 King Mswati III decreed that the country will be changing it's name to cut ties with it's colonial past. Eswatini means "land of the Swazi" in the language of the country. Swaziland was the Anglo and Swazi amalgamation of the same term. The King issued his decree on the 50th anniversary of the peaceful end of British rule in his country, a gift to his people.

There will be no Eswatini in Qatar. Who will be? What will happen between now and November 2022? A lot, no doubt. And it won't just be football.

The end? Countdown to Qatar?

The day after. And just for the record it's day -1588 before Qatar 2022. But whether I will be here on day -1587, well....maybe....or another 1000....

There's definitely a void now. If you love sport, the emotion of winning and losing, following the path of the winners and the losers, the ups and downs, you have to wonder what you are going to look forward to. The Tour de France? Yes, it's a pretty amazing human achievement, and everyday there are some pretty amazing battles. It's up there, it just lacks the euphoria of a knockout round win and the disappointment of a defeat. The new Premier League, Serie A, La Liga seasons? Yeah, there's some fun there. Who will be the new big money names in England? How will Ronaldo take to life with Juventus? Who will replace Ronaldo at Real Madrid? Yes, all good but the seasons are long and a win in August or September may long be forgotten by May.

How about the British Open? A bit of stretch. Golf is like basketball. If you want excitement watch the last 5 minutes (or last 5 holes on the final day) and hope the scores are close up until then so you catch the most exciting bit.

What else? The US Open. Now that could be fun if we go again like last year. Tennis in New York, that's pretty good. I couldn't get excited about Wimbledon, especially not the final as it clashed with the World Cup final. Maybe by the time the US Open comes around I'll be needing that bit of tennis excitement.

But back to the last memories of a wonderful month, my memories. The best times were the Canada Day long weekend, also the last 16 weekend, when it didn't take much persuasion to convince Kristine and my girls that the best way to spend the weekend was to camp out at home and watch football. I could have gone to a bar, but it was better to share those moments with my family. We had a great time cheering Schmeichel! Schmeichel! in the hope that the Danish keeper would come out on top in the penalty shoot out against Croatia. We were all jumped out of our seats when Belgium scored the last minute winner in the thriller against Japan. And we all happily waved cheerio to Spain and their boring, pointless football.

There was the drive to Cleveland with Kristine, some time finally spent alone together, and World Cup commentary on BBC Radio in the car. Shaqiri scored the last minute winner against Serbia just as we pulled into our hotel. And as Belgium put a few goals past Tunisia we were somewhere in northern Ohio, or had we crossed into Pennsylvania, or were we already in New York state? Football on the radio, BBC radio, nonetheless, it never loses it's charm.

And then finally, the joy of my teenager Lily giving up on a day at the beach with her friends to watch the World Cup Final with her dad. That made me happy.

That's it. All done. I'll find something to look forward to. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.