Day -336 WorldCup2018
Today four years ago was 337 days until Brazil 2014. I know because I came across my post from that day. And I realized how long I've been doing this for. That post was about Eric Cantona. There have been a few about him.
Today I'm annoyed. I should be proud and happy because Valletta had a fantastic result against Dutch team Utrecht in the Europa League qualifying. A 0-0 draw at home, against a team playing their first competitive match for a while and probably pacing themselves for bigger challenges is not a win. But it is significant when you think of Malta's third best team not losing to their Dutch equivalents. And there is no need for comments about how Dutch football is not quite on a high right now.
I would have been happy to celebrate Valletta's not quite a win kind of victory if I didn't have to hear about how anybody who criticizes Maltese football should now be rejoicing after this great result. It is a good result, amongst all the gloom and doom, but it is one result. And it was achieved through the efforts of one club, the players of that club (including the non-Maltese ones) and the coaching team. And if you are a loyal follower of a Maltese club you will also say "well done to the committee". Yes, the Malta FA have had a big hand in training some of those players and in providing facilities and funding. But it's a bit of stretch for the MFA to jumping on the Valletta "we did well in Europe" bandwagon.
What was that I quoted a few weeks ago about there's being positive and there's being realistic. It's easy to be positive to ignore the problems, and to use the positivity to distract from the issues. There are two types of Maltese football supporters. There are the ones who aren't actually supporters. They'll go to home matches if Italy are England are playing. They'll travel to London or Rome to watch Malta play there because it's a cool thing to do and they can afford to go. And when neither of those two things are happening they"ll be sitting at home watching Juve or Man United on TV and scoffing at anybody who brings up Maltese football. They'll occasionally hear Malta's, or a Maltese club's, result and say, "no surprise, another defeat. Maltese football is terrible. Why bother?"
And then there's fans like me who have watched a huge amount of local and international matches against teams with un-pronounceable names. We've seen countless depressing defeats but we keep going back because we know that occasionally there will be a big one, one to cheer for, one that we can say we witnessed. Rare, but it happens. And when we criticize we sort of know what we are talking about because we have seen the National Team evolve, we've read about the decisions the MFA has taken and we've witnessed the outcome of those results. So if I want to be realistic, let me be. Don't call me negative, as is hip to do in Malta these days. Or do. I really don't care.
Right now, this evening, I am happy for Valletta and their players. Well done to them and them alone. It was a great result and, part-time fans don't laugh, I actually do believe they could score a goal in Holland and frustrate Utrecht. That's the optimistic fan in me.
Today four years ago was 337 days until Brazil 2014. I know because I came across my post from that day. And I realized how long I've been doing this for. That post was about Eric Cantona. There have been a few about him.
Today I'm annoyed. I should be proud and happy because Valletta had a fantastic result against Dutch team Utrecht in the Europa League qualifying. A 0-0 draw at home, against a team playing their first competitive match for a while and probably pacing themselves for bigger challenges is not a win. But it is significant when you think of Malta's third best team not losing to their Dutch equivalents. And there is no need for comments about how Dutch football is not quite on a high right now.
I would have been happy to celebrate Valletta's not quite a win kind of victory if I didn't have to hear about how anybody who criticizes Maltese football should now be rejoicing after this great result. It is a good result, amongst all the gloom and doom, but it is one result. And it was achieved through the efforts of one club, the players of that club (including the non-Maltese ones) and the coaching team. And if you are a loyal follower of a Maltese club you will also say "well done to the committee". Yes, the Malta FA have had a big hand in training some of those players and in providing facilities and funding. But it's a bit of stretch for the MFA to jumping on the Valletta "we did well in Europe" bandwagon.
What was that I quoted a few weeks ago about there's being positive and there's being realistic. It's easy to be positive to ignore the problems, and to use the positivity to distract from the issues. There are two types of Maltese football supporters. There are the ones who aren't actually supporters. They'll go to home matches if Italy are England are playing. They'll travel to London or Rome to watch Malta play there because it's a cool thing to do and they can afford to go. And when neither of those two things are happening they"ll be sitting at home watching Juve or Man United on TV and scoffing at anybody who brings up Maltese football. They'll occasionally hear Malta's, or a Maltese club's, result and say, "no surprise, another defeat. Maltese football is terrible. Why bother?"
And then there's fans like me who have watched a huge amount of local and international matches against teams with un-pronounceable names. We've seen countless depressing defeats but we keep going back because we know that occasionally there will be a big one, one to cheer for, one that we can say we witnessed. Rare, but it happens. And when we criticize we sort of know what we are talking about because we have seen the National Team evolve, we've read about the decisions the MFA has taken and we've witnessed the outcome of those results. So if I want to be realistic, let me be. Don't call me negative, as is hip to do in Malta these days. Or do. I really don't care.
Right now, this evening, I am happy for Valletta and their players. Well done to them and them alone. It was a great result and, part-time fans don't laugh, I actually do believe they could score a goal in Holland and frustrate Utrecht. That's the optimistic fan in me.
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