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Time to take minnows off the international menu
Now that the dust has settled on the Ronaldo story (at least until he actually signs) I wanted to go back to something that bothered me about last week’s on-field action.
Former England striker Jimmy Greaves summed it up quite well at half-time during England’s 6-0 thrashing of Andorra in a World Cup qualifier.
“Have you ever seen a team this bad at Wembley?” Greaves, one of several members of the 1996 World Cup squad to be given belated winners medals after missing the final, said when interviewed by ITV.
Greaves went on to question the sanity of the near 60,000 fans who bought tickets to watch England beat a side that would struggle to survive in the fourth tier of English club football.
It wasn’t quite what ITV wanted to hear after desperately trying to stoke interest in the miss-match but the outspoken Greaves made a very good point before we were returned hurriedly to the studio.
The likes of Andorra and San Marino may belong to the FIFA family but they offer absolutely nothing to football at this level.
There sole objective is to avoid a double-figure thrashing which they usually achieve by positioning 11 players behind the ball and never venturing over the halfway line.
The England vs Andorra motch last week went beyond being a mismatch. The writer is correct, it should never have happened. The stadium they held the match in – Wembley, obviously! – can hold more than the entire population of Andorra. Surely this is ridiculous? My home town has more people living in it than Andorra can draw upon. These games are a waste of everybody’s time. http://www.loserscomesecond.com/