I re-read my post from yesterday as I wondered whether I had exaggerated my feeling of disappointment at Malta's loss to Slovakia. Or had I been too glowing in my praise for how well I thought Malta played? No and no. I still feel that feeling of "oh, it was so close, it could've been." And I did think they played really, really well. It was the most enjoyable time watching Malta play, probably since the epic 2-2 draw against Turkey in 2007. My memory may be failing me because Im sure there was another time in the last ten years.
Anyway, the boys in red, if you happen to read this: well done. That was one hell of a performance.
You were a pleasure to watch and you made me look forward to the next time.
I'm sure the coach, Pietro Ghedin , was full of praise for them and reminded them that they need to do more of the same, eliminate a few mistakes and we'll all be laughing.
In the rest of the world, bar Europe, qualifiers carry on tomorrow. Tahiti will be looking to consolidate their place as the major challengers to New Zealand, and New Zealand will be looking to ease into the final round before the intercontinental play-off with another win against Fiji.
In Asia, South Korea will be looking for a win against Syria to put some breathing space between themselves and their opponents and to maybe put the propaganda fairytale to rest. If Syria did win they would jump above South Korea into an automatic qualifying spot. Australia need a win against UAE to keep in touch with Japan and Saudi Arabia ahead of them and thus avoid the tension of a play-off against the third placed team in the other group.
In South America Brazil could actually qualify tomorrow if they win and other results go their way. Either way, after a shaky start they are now firmly in control.
And in the CONCACAF region, the USA play in Panama, scene of the dramatic American comeback from 2-1 down in the 89th minute to win 3-2 in 2013. That result eliminated Panama from the intercontinental play-off for a spot at Brazil 2014. This time the Americans need a win after a lousy start which saw them lose their first two matches of this final qualifying round.
In Europe, there are some friendlies being played. Enough said. Actually I've given them too much prominence already. As was said on the BBC this weekend: Friendlies are the new testimonials. (This was an extension to the phrase, "Internationals are the new friendlies,," said by Gary Lineker while watching England stroll to an almost non-competitive win against Lithuania.)
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