Day -345 WorldCup2018
Kristine left for Latvia today for three weeks and I am so immensely proud of her that she has to courage to work to achieve her dream. I'm also happy to know that she won't miss any major football event. I'll make sure I include them all every night!
As I was driving home from the airport along the slow roads I thought of how to make this relevant for a post tonight so my mind wandered to Latvia and football. Latvia caused one of the biggest surprises in world football in 2004, the scope of which I feel was hugely underrated at the time. Little Latvia, who I always considered as the kind of team that Malta had a chance of beating, who were, since independence, one of those new Eastern European teams that made up the numbers in the qualifying groups for Euros and the World Cup but were never taken very seriously, qualified for Euro 2004. It was pretty incredible. This was before Michel Platini opened up the Euros to 24 teams. Latvia did a "Leicester" just by qualifying years before Leicester did a Leicester. And at the Euros they were not pushovers. Unfortunately their star player, Marians Pahars, was injured and could only make substitute apperances. Latvia lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic after the Czechs scored two very late goals. They then held Germany to a 0-0 draw, a result that contributed to the Germans first round exit. In their last match Holland won 3-0, but Latvia had already proved they deserved to be in Portugal.
Portugal. As I continued on my meander from the airport I realised I would pass a Portuguese supermarket and was in a Euro mood so decided to stop to buy something for dinner. And I thought: Portugal, that's where the Euros were held that Latvia qualified for. Portugal, where I was almost at my first Euro or World Cup. Kristine and I had tickets for France-Croatia, bought well in advance, more than 9 months ahead of the date. Two weeks after the match date, the girl who know laughs at her Dad when he whacks the floor when his football team miss a chance to score was born. Worth missing the football for? You betcha!
A little aside from my drive home today. As I drove through a Portuguese/Brazilian and other South American part of the city I was amused, as I am every time I see it, by Hounslow Heath Road. Amongst the Portuguese bars with the Portuguese men standing outside, and the Uruguayan bakery, and the Ecuadorian restaurant there it is: what feels like a little bit of England, stubbornly staking a claim in the most unlikely part of Toronto.
And, finally, allow me a cheer for the Maltese Champions, Hibernians, who today completed a two leg victory over FC Tallinn in the Champions League first qualifying round. They didn't just hang on to their 2-0 first leg win, they went out and won 1-0. Next up for the Hibs are FC Salzburg, the Red Bull team. The Austrian one, not the German one.
And post-finally I have to commiserate with one of the teams from a fellow minnow country, Glasgow Rangers, on their tough loss to a European powerhouse, Progres Niederkorn. today. You know, Progres Niederkorn from Luxembourg. Last year Hearts lost against Malta's Birkirkara. Is anybody in Scotland beginning to think that their football is really not that good? It's ok. I know how you feel.
Kristine left for Latvia today for three weeks and I am so immensely proud of her that she has to courage to work to achieve her dream. I'm also happy to know that she won't miss any major football event. I'll make sure I include them all every night!
As I was driving home from the airport along the slow roads I thought of how to make this relevant for a post tonight so my mind wandered to Latvia and football. Latvia caused one of the biggest surprises in world football in 2004, the scope of which I feel was hugely underrated at the time. Little Latvia, who I always considered as the kind of team that Malta had a chance of beating, who were, since independence, one of those new Eastern European teams that made up the numbers in the qualifying groups for Euros and the World Cup but were never taken very seriously, qualified for Euro 2004. It was pretty incredible. This was before Michel Platini opened up the Euros to 24 teams. Latvia did a "Leicester" just by qualifying years before Leicester did a Leicester. And at the Euros they were not pushovers. Unfortunately their star player, Marians Pahars, was injured and could only make substitute apperances. Latvia lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic after the Czechs scored two very late goals. They then held Germany to a 0-0 draw, a result that contributed to the Germans first round exit. In their last match Holland won 3-0, but Latvia had already proved they deserved to be in Portugal.
Portugal. As I continued on my meander from the airport I realised I would pass a Portuguese supermarket and was in a Euro mood so decided to stop to buy something for dinner. And I thought: Portugal, that's where the Euros were held that Latvia qualified for. Portugal, where I was almost at my first Euro or World Cup. Kristine and I had tickets for France-Croatia, bought well in advance, more than 9 months ahead of the date. Two weeks after the match date, the girl who know laughs at her Dad when he whacks the floor when his football team miss a chance to score was born. Worth missing the football for? You betcha!
A little aside from my drive home today. As I drove through a Portuguese/Brazilian and other South American part of the city I was amused, as I am every time I see it, by Hounslow Heath Road. Amongst the Portuguese bars with the Portuguese men standing outside, and the Uruguayan bakery, and the Ecuadorian restaurant there it is: what feels like a little bit of England, stubbornly staking a claim in the most unlikely part of Toronto.
And, finally, allow me a cheer for the Maltese Champions, Hibernians, who today completed a two leg victory over FC Tallinn in the Champions League first qualifying round. They didn't just hang on to their 2-0 first leg win, they went out and won 1-0. Next up for the Hibs are FC Salzburg, the Red Bull team. The Austrian one, not the German one.
And post-finally I have to commiserate with one of the teams from a fellow minnow country, Glasgow Rangers, on their tough loss to a European powerhouse, Progres Niederkorn. today. You know, Progres Niederkorn from Luxembourg. Last year Hearts lost against Malta's Birkirkara. Is anybody in Scotland beginning to think that their football is really not that good? It's ok. I know how you feel.
No comments:
Post a Comment