Should 'minnow' Malta play in World Cup qualifiers? the Guardian asks

“Being beaten and ridiculed is a fact of life for some teams,” the Guardian’s Sports Blog rightly asked today.

So why does Malta still go for the bottom seeds for the draw for Euro 2012 qualification, to most likely remain bottom of its group throughout the entire qualifying campaign? The blog spoke to the Malta Football Association deputy secretary-general Louis Micallef.

“I have heard these complaints for years but what about the principle of solidarity?” said Micallef. “Maybe the big boys should simply play each other and we just sit down and watch?” he says. “And maybe only Premier League teams should be allowed into the FA Cup? And maybe the Premier League should consist of only four teams? Look, we know we will probably always be wooden-spoonists but there must be giantkillers — the prospect of springing a surprise is what motivates the players.”

Micallef was also asked whether the Malta national team would not be more motivated by playing competitions they could actually win, such as against their fellow minnows.

“Logistically that makes sense,” acknowledges Micallef. “And it is true that in some ways the team might enjoy playing against sides of the same calibre. But attractiveness is one of the criteria too – players and supporters get much more excited about playing against the teams and players that they normally only see on television. If you take that away, you take away some of the magic of the game.”

How can Maltese players play at a higher level? “We looked at the possibility of entering a Maltese national team into the Italian league,” says Micallef. “You know, we are not like Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, who have strong links with British clubs so all their players can go play there. So for our players to regularly play against high-level teams we thought about joining the Italian league.”

“But we don’t control our players and our clubs here are opposed to it, understandably. But it is important for the development of our national team that we get more players playing abroad. That is another way that international competition helps. Being in the shop window is the players’ other great motivator when we play big teams and naturally many dream of emulating Michael Mifsud.”