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When is the Vatican City State going to have its own soccer team?
"... John Terry gets the ball back.... oh no what a terrible pass to Robinson... Pope Benedict XVI could be in here... rounds the keeper... gooooaaaalllll.... with 5 minutes gone, its just 54 - 1 to England, can Vatican get back in this game!" :D
I don't know - any team with God on their side would be handy enough.
Yeah, and bringing the inquisiton in off the bench would terrify the opposition!
Germany is crushing San Marino 6-0...at half time
10-0 now
Make it 12-0
13 - 0 now... We are fudged if it comes down to goal difference with the Germans. That result is like an extra point.
Re: minnows. Gibraltar are bidding for UEFA membership.
Aertel
Stop worrying; there's no way that it's going to come down to GD with us and Germany.
some of these minnows are so small that when they play at places like Old Trafford or Celtic Park the attendance is actually larger than their country's entire population.
Faroe Islands Population: 46,962 Celtic Park Attendance : 50,059
Andorra Population: 70,549 Old Trafford Attendance:56,290
Might come down to goal idfference with San Marino though so it's a good result for us. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Marked Man
It shouldnt matter about the size of a country or their record. A country is a country and deserve their place in world football. The only way teams get better is by trying to raise their game for the better teams.
P{S I see that UEFA might be getting a new member- Gibraltar. good luck to them.
I wonder how many potential new countries remain in Europe? Are Kosovo likely to gain independence? Is Chechnya in Europe at all? Or have we about reached the limit of the number of countries we can realistically expect in European qualifiers from now on?
Agree there are not that many new countries to come through (in addition to your list it's possible Greenland may want a team and perhaps Monaco but I believe the club would oppose this).
The real influx could be regional teams based on the Scotland/Wales principles. We could have Catalonia, Basque, Brittany, 2 teams in Belgium etc etc etc.
I would say that to my mind Catalonia is more entitled to a team than Andorra/San Marino which in reality appear to be medieval based vanity projects.
Personally I think the minnows should play a miny competition every two years when the bigger European teams are at the competitions. Basically, trimming the groups down to five or six would be perfect. The competition would obviously not include all those nations who had qualified for a major tournament, but ten or fifteen nations (Including Norn Ireland, and even us at this stage) would take part in something similar to the inter-toto cup
Just an idea I had probably makes no sense!
Go on the Gib, ha if they enter does that mean theyll have to have representatives in the uefa cup and cl etc. An easy round for irish teams and a lovely chance to visit the rock. What about Greenland why arent they in it and why not include our friends from the Isle of Man and the likes of Kaliningrad, and as stu said Kosovo shouldnt they get a team to, there will always be plenty of fans at their games considering the huge numbers of soldiers there. A special mention must go to the Vatican, if San Marino can have a team so can they. But last but by no means least how about the self-declared republic of Transnistria which is about to vote on its future, as it looks to break away from the tiny republic of moldova. I love small countries :D
Greenland only has a narrow period of two or three months where the pitches are capable of outdoor football. Isle of Man clubs play in the lower league of Northern England but they probably could join UEFA if they pushed hard enough. Kaliningrad is just part of Russia. Kosovo could well have a team if they become independent within the next 5 years. Don't know how likely it is that Transnistria could become properly independent but their top club Sheriff Tiraspol regurlarly competes in Europe.
Post of the monthQuote:
Originally Posted by Schumi
I think England, Scotland, Wales and NI are there and aren't going to get kicked out at this stage; however, UEFA aren't going to allow any other such countries in. So that doesn't seem to be an issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by cavan_fan
My only concern with European groups would be the size of the groups nowadays. I think 7 is about as big as it should get really.
There is a pretty big case for catalunya to be in it
I will read the entire thread later, but... minnows are as necessary to football as top teams. They have to be there. International football is not about level, it's about people representing their countries and about involving the whole world in the football party. You cannot just exclude a nation from participating because they don't have any top players, you cannot just forbid people practising their hobby just because they're noit very good at it. San Marino, Luxembourg, Andorra, etc are countries with football fans just like all other nations ; they have as many rights to participate as England or Italy have. I for one have much respect for their players. I mean, San Marino get hammered every game, but the players still go for it 100% and give themselves 100% every game, purely out of love for the game and out of national pride. I have deep respect for that, I cannot see Beckham or Del Piero do that if they wouldn't get paid for it. Amateur sports is the true spirit of sports as it should be, and it's very important we give every nation the chance to participate. Football is as elite-esque as it is already, I'd hate to see it growing even more elitist. Long live teams like Liechtenstein or San Marino, I find it a pleasure to see the enthousiasm and dedication of their teams despite all the losses.
PS: not just Montenegro will become UEFA members, also Gibraltar. The highest court in European sports ruled the Spanish objections as not acceptable, and forced UEFA to welcome Gibraltar. Justice has conquered in that case.