@JohnBoy said:
Perplexed by the Tjay situation. Who would turn down playing in a World Cup qualifier for their country for 20 mins off the bench in the pizza cup?
The way I see it, he wants to prove his fitness and use the absence of others on international duty to stake a claim for more appearances throughout the season - he is only on a one year contract after all. At international duty he's largely isolated up front against teams like the Netherlands and it was against them he picked up a knock in June, when Daley Blind injured himself to stop Tjay from getting through on the break (which is largely how Gibraltar operate). Because of that style of play he tends to get the shit kicked out of him by defenders, even the top level ones like Soyuncu, and is more likely to get injured. If you're fighting for your contract then you have to do what you have to do. He's also only 21 and has 3 international goals already. He'll get more.
@Wendoverman said:
I'm not not sure how accurate it is...but I heard a rumour that playing Internationals against some of the best teams in Europe is quite exciting for young footballers.
Also a great showcase for the country's goalkeepers.
@MindlessDrugHoover said:
How will they ever better themselves if they never get to play the likes of the Netherlands?
I bet Davide Gualtieri, nearly 30 years on, still cherishes the moment he put San Marino a goal up against England within 9 seconds. And I'd imagine so do a lot of people from that country. Doesn't matter that they lost 9-1 - that moment became local legend.
It was only 7-1 - otherwise we'd have qualified for the World Cup!
Actually, no, that didn't matter because we needed Poland to beat the Netherlands. My bad! I wasn't even born at the time.
As the sadly departed Graham Taylor said at the time - if Poland beat the Netherlands by Seven goals we'd only need to win by a couple against San Marino, why was nobody considering that?
He was a much easier man to warm to after he was away from the England job.
@Wendoverman said:
I'm not not sure how accurate it is...but I heard a rumour that playing Internationals against some of the best teams in Europe is quite exciting for young footballers.
Also a great showcase for the country's goalkeepers.
Just looked that game up and Haaland had eight shots without scoring?! Practically unheard of for him.
Is that the same goalkeeper who played a bit of a blinder against the Netherlands?
@Wendoverman said:
I'm not not sure how accurate it is...but I heard a rumour that playing Internationals against some of the best teams in Europe is quite exciting for young footballers.
Also a great showcase for the country's goalkeepers.
Just looked that game up and Haaland had eight shots without scoring?! Practically unheard of for him.
Is that the same goalkeeper who played a bit of a blinder against the Netherlands?
Yeah until he got injured - that's Coleing's main problem. He also got injured against Turkey like Tjay did, and is missing from this month's squad. If Coleing can stay fit he'd easily be good enough to play in the EFL. Luckily they have a couple of other promising young keepers waiting in the wings too like Bradley Banda (23), Christian Lopez (20) and Jaylan Hankins (20) - the latter of which is currently 2nd choice keeper at Cordoba in Spain. It's one area Gibraltar are becoming increasingly stacked in, which is a good thing if you're one of the weaker teams in Europe.
@DevC I think you’ve proved your lack of knowledge on the Gibraltar national team quite well in this thread.
They’ve only recently been allowed to compete in FIFA qualifying and even more recently been able to play home games in those events in Gibraltar - having to travel to Portugal before to play their home ties. In that short time, they’ve made great strides, picking up a few wins and draws and very nearly holding Ireland to a 0-0. It obviously takes a long time to build on though.
No need to “prove” lack of knowledge of Gibraltar team. I freely admit it. Similar levels of knowledge to Andorra, or Liechtenstein or San Marino for example.
I have no problem with small countries having a team and having a pathway to qualify for the World Cup if good enough. Through no fault of their own though, population size means they are unlikely to be able to compete against much larger countries and the games are dull because they are predictable. I believe England and playing Andorra tonight. It’s hard to much care.
I think a pre qualification tournament for say the teams finishing in the bottom two of the last qualification is the way forward.
Incidentally why did Gibraltar play in Portugal and not Spain? politics?
"The games are dull because they are predictable" is from the perspective of a fan/native of the larger countries, in the same way that I'm sure many Man City fans didn't get overly excited about our league cup match. For the players and fans of the smaller countries I doubt they'd find it dull if they were to take a lead in any of these matches. There are quite a lot of emotions and feelings behind football beyond just the final result.
@FmG said:
"The games are dull because they are predictable" is from the perspective of a fan/native of the larger countries, in the same way that I'm sure many Man City fans didn't get overly excited about our league cup match. For the players and fans of the smaller countries I doubt they'd find it dull if they were to take a lead in any of these matches. There are quite a lot of emotions and feelings behind football beyond just the final result.
This is very true.
But at least in our cups, the minnows have to qualify to play the big guns. Round 3 of both main cups to play the biggest teams.
Disrupting the league stuff so 100k a week players can go and cruise 4 or 5-0 past part timers is absolutely bizarre.
Yep Latvia have successfully kicked him off the pitch, subbed off before HT. He did walk off on his own though so hopefully just a minor knock which he'll be back from sooner rather than later.
Ali Al-Hamadi was included in Iraq's preliminary squad for their friendly against Uganda on 21 January but ultimately they stuck with domestic players. On 27 Jan they'll play a World Cup qualifier against Iran though, so he could be in that squad as they'll want to go full strength - Manchester United midfielder Zidane Iqbal is also likely to get called up there too.
Comments
Great finish that!
The way I see it, he wants to prove his fitness and use the absence of others on international duty to stake a claim for more appearances throughout the season - he is only on a one year contract after all. At international duty he's largely isolated up front against teams like the Netherlands and it was against them he picked up a knock in June, when Daley Blind injured himself to stop Tjay from getting through on the break (which is largely how Gibraltar operate). Because of that style of play he tends to get the shit kicked out of him by defenders, even the top level ones like Soyuncu, and is more likely to get injured. If you're fighting for your contract then you have to do what you have to do. He's also only 21 and has 3 international goals already. He'll get more.
Also a great showcase for the country's goalkeepers.
As the sadly departed Graham Taylor said at the time - if Poland beat the Netherlands by Seven goals we'd only need to win by a couple against San Marino, why was nobody considering that?
He was a much easier man to warm to after he was away from the England job.
Just looked that game up and Haaland had eight shots without scoring?! Practically unheard of for him.
Is that the same goalkeeper who played a bit of a blinder against the Netherlands?
Yeah until he got injured - that's Coleing's main problem. He also got injured against Turkey like Tjay did, and is missing from this month's squad. If Coleing can stay fit he'd easily be good enough to play in the EFL. Luckily they have a couple of other promising young keepers waiting in the wings too like Bradley Banda (23), Christian Lopez (20) and Jaylan Hankins (20) - the latter of which is currently 2nd choice keeper at Cordoba in Spain. It's one area Gibraltar are becoming increasingly stacked in, which is a good thing if you're one of the weaker teams in Europe.
@Valley Wanderer Damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.
@DevC I think you’ve proved your lack of knowledge on the Gibraltar national team quite well in this thread.
They’ve only recently been allowed to compete in FIFA qualifying and even more recently been able to play home games in those events in Gibraltar - having to travel to Portugal before to play their home ties. In that short time, they’ve made great strides, picking up a few wins and draws and very nearly holding Ireland to a 0-0. It obviously takes a long time to build on though.
No need to “prove” lack of knowledge of Gibraltar team. I freely admit it. Similar levels of knowledge to Andorra, or Liechtenstein or San Marino for example.
I have no problem with small countries having a team and having a pathway to qualify for the World Cup if good enough. Through no fault of their own though, population size means they are unlikely to be able to compete against much larger countries and the games are dull because they are predictable. I believe England and playing Andorra tonight. It’s hard to much care.
I think a pre qualification tournament for say the teams finishing in the bottom two of the last qualification is the way forward.
Incidentally why did Gibraltar play in Portugal and not Spain? politics?
"The games are dull because they are predictable" is from the perspective of a fan/native of the larger countries, in the same way that I'm sure many Man City fans didn't get overly excited about our league cup match. For the players and fans of the smaller countries I doubt they'd find it dull if they were to take a lead in any of these matches. There are quite a lot of emotions and feelings behind football beyond just the final result.
Spain and Gibraltar are kept apart in qualifying draws
This is very true.
But at least in our cups, the minnows have to qualify to play the big guns. Round 3 of both main cups to play the biggest teams.
Disrupting the league stuff so 100k a week players can go and cruise 4 or 5-0 past part timers is absolutely bizarre.
I’m sure I also read somewhere that Spain would not allow the team to travel to Portugal through Spain by coach.
Therefore they flew the 130 miles to Faro and back for every international home match.
Horgan starts today.
Horgan with an assist, though Robinson still had work to do after collecting the pass.
Subbed at HT though. Ouch.
I hope he didn't get too close to him!
Tjay with an assist just now for Liam Walker, Gibraltar currently lead Latvia 1-0 inside the opening 10 minutes.
Should be a bit concerned though cos Latvia have resorted to kicking lumps out of Tjay, because he's causing them so many problems.
Yep Latvia have successfully kicked him off the pitch, subbed off before HT. He did walk off on his own though so hopefully just a minor knock which he'll be back from sooner rather than later.
Ali Al-Hamadi was included in Iraq's preliminary squad for their friendly against Uganda on 21 January but ultimately they stuck with domestic players. On 27 Jan they'll play a World Cup qualifier against Iran though, so he could be in that squad as they'll want to go full strength - Manchester United midfielder Zidane Iqbal is also likely to get called up there too.
Our final International weekend home game is upon us and this looks like a sub 4000 gate, especially with so many facilities closed
Just the Ipswich and Fleetwood games were moved to Tuesday nights out of the original five.