Day -615. WorldCup2018
Latvia had a bad day today. They lost their World Cup qualifier 2-0 at home to the Faroe Islands. Nobody loses against the Faroe Islands (except for Austria who the Faroes beat in their first ever competitive match in 1990). And it was a double whammy for Latvia. Their Under 21 team lost against Malta. Nobody loses against Malta. Yes, it is technically not true as this was Malta's second win against Latvia in this round of U21 European Championship qualifying. So maybe I should rephrase that as, Latvia lose to Malta.
In 2004 Latvia were probably the biggest surprise qualifiers ever for the European Championships . Southampton's Marians Pahars was their Marco Van Basten, their Paolo Rossi, the goal scorer who had made a name for himself in England. Sadly, injury prevented him from being at his best at the Finals but Latvia's presence with the big boys was an achievement. They haven't quite been anywhere near as good since. Pahars is now the manager, and the nation must be hoping that he rediscovers his magical touch. A loss to the Faroe Islands is not a good thing to have on your resume, coupled with the knowledge that your next generation of players are losing to Malta.
A bad day for Latvia but a good day for Malta's young players who's 8 points in qualifying is their highest total ever. Tomorrow the senior team go for the mother of all upsets....a draw with England at Wembley. Malta's Italian manager, Pietro Ghedin, gave a very thorough assessment of England in a pre-match interview: "They run a lot, they are very cunning...." Sure, cunning, there's a good word for them. Ghedin also spoke about how he will miss seeing one of his favourite players, Adam Lallana who is out injured for England. "I love him because he is a cunning player...." He also had wonderful things to say about the 67-day England manager, Sam Allardyce, "He is a nice man".
Adding to the excitement in the build up to the match is the news that Malta's England-born goalkeeper, Andrew Hogg, is going to have many members of his English family watching him at Wembley but they have all been instructed to support Malta. And Malta's Messi (doesn't every country have one?), Michael Mifsud is looking forward to an upset. Mifsud, if you have been living under a rock where no Aidan Mifsud World Cup posts are read, scored two spectacular goals for Coventry City against Manchester United at Old Trafford oh so (too) many years ago. Now he is 35, and after a career that kind of went into, some may opine, a greed fueled nosedive after his Coventry exploits, is undoubtedly cherishing the prospect of Wembley glory. He's at the perfect age to join Major League Soccer so he may also be hoping for a couple of scouts from Houston Dynamo or Real Salt Lake to be in attendance.
Another Maltese player, Andre Schembri, who has had steady success playing overseas was interviewed by the Scottish Mail newspaper and spoke about how Andrea Pirlo, the Italian midfield genius, said that Schembri was his toughest opponent ever. Pirlo wrote about Schembri's tight marking in his autobiography. Pirlo said Schembri stuck so close to him that he remarked that he thought Schembri wanted to marry him. To which Schembri replies in his interview, "I got married during the summer, so I'm taken!" A bit of British humour there for you because we're good at that, don't you know.
One and all don't say you weren't warned. Noon, Toronto time, tomorrow tune in for some Mifsud magic (mine and Michael's). I'm going to be a little more realistic in my expectations for the Ghedin's Red and White Army than I was for the Scotland match but I do hope that Gareth Southgate leaves that pitch with boos ringing in his ears.
"Winston Churchill, Bradley Wiggins, Steve Redgrave, Andy Murray (oops, wrong country).....Teresa May we have given your boys one helluva Maltese stuffing!"
Latvia had a bad day today. They lost their World Cup qualifier 2-0 at home to the Faroe Islands. Nobody loses against the Faroe Islands (except for Austria who the Faroes beat in their first ever competitive match in 1990). And it was a double whammy for Latvia. Their Under 21 team lost against Malta. Nobody loses against Malta. Yes, it is technically not true as this was Malta's second win against Latvia in this round of U21 European Championship qualifying. So maybe I should rephrase that as, Latvia lose to Malta.
In 2004 Latvia were probably the biggest surprise qualifiers ever for the European Championships . Southampton's Marians Pahars was their Marco Van Basten, their Paolo Rossi, the goal scorer who had made a name for himself in England. Sadly, injury prevented him from being at his best at the Finals but Latvia's presence with the big boys was an achievement. They haven't quite been anywhere near as good since. Pahars is now the manager, and the nation must be hoping that he rediscovers his magical touch. A loss to the Faroe Islands is not a good thing to have on your resume, coupled with the knowledge that your next generation of players are losing to Malta.
A bad day for Latvia but a good day for Malta's young players who's 8 points in qualifying is their highest total ever. Tomorrow the senior team go for the mother of all upsets....a draw with England at Wembley. Malta's Italian manager, Pietro Ghedin, gave a very thorough assessment of England in a pre-match interview: "They run a lot, they are very cunning...." Sure, cunning, there's a good word for them. Ghedin also spoke about how he will miss seeing one of his favourite players, Adam Lallana who is out injured for England. "I love him because he is a cunning player...." He also had wonderful things to say about the 67-day England manager, Sam Allardyce, "He is a nice man".
Adding to the excitement in the build up to the match is the news that Malta's England-born goalkeeper, Andrew Hogg, is going to have many members of his English family watching him at Wembley but they have all been instructed to support Malta. And Malta's Messi (doesn't every country have one?), Michael Mifsud is looking forward to an upset. Mifsud, if you have been living under a rock where no Aidan Mifsud World Cup posts are read, scored two spectacular goals for Coventry City against Manchester United at Old Trafford oh so (too) many years ago. Now he is 35, and after a career that kind of went into, some may opine, a greed fueled nosedive after his Coventry exploits, is undoubtedly cherishing the prospect of Wembley glory. He's at the perfect age to join Major League Soccer so he may also be hoping for a couple of scouts from Houston Dynamo or Real Salt Lake to be in attendance.
Another Maltese player, Andre Schembri, who has had steady success playing overseas was interviewed by the Scottish Mail newspaper and spoke about how Andrea Pirlo, the Italian midfield genius, said that Schembri was his toughest opponent ever. Pirlo wrote about Schembri's tight marking in his autobiography. Pirlo said Schembri stuck so close to him that he remarked that he thought Schembri wanted to marry him. To which Schembri replies in his interview, "I got married during the summer, so I'm taken!" A bit of British humour there for you because we're good at that, don't you know.
One and all don't say you weren't warned. Noon, Toronto time, tomorrow tune in for some Mifsud magic (mine and Michael's). I'm going to be a little more realistic in my expectations for the Ghedin's Red and White Army than I was for the Scotland match but I do hope that Gareth Southgate leaves that pitch with boos ringing in his ears.
"Winston Churchill, Bradley Wiggins, Steve Redgrave, Andy Murray (oops, wrong country).....Teresa May we have given your boys one helluva Maltese stuffing!"
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