Minnows and underdogs

Day -693. WorldCup2018

Of minnows and underdogs. Malta and Scotland. Minnows or underdogs?

In what was probably Maltese football's biggest ever result Birkirkara beat Hearts, in Scotland, to make it to the third qualifying round of the Europa League. To begin to put this into perspective this is the first time ever a Maltese team has reached the third round of a European competition. This result may not resonate around the world as Iceland's win over England did, but in relative terms it is about as much of a shock. A team from Malta, perennial minnows, a semi-professional team, a team that had won 3 previous European matches (out of 24), against a team from a country that has qualified for World Cups, a country that has produced players of the calibre of Daglish, Souness and Law.

So who are the minnows now? Birkirkara were minnows and underdogs. And after today they are still minnows. Hearts should be ashamed. It is fitting, it seems, that their twitter name is Jam Tarts. Birkirkara should be overly ecstatic.

Malta-Scotland, World Cup qualifier, in September, might be very interesting; a good chance for a Malta win and a fight for Scotland to get a result. A clash between two minnows?