Thailand went on a European tour in October with Lineup B, most of whose members were in Europe for the first time. After the 0:8 defeat in Georgia we arrived in Estonia. In addition to the time difference and unfamiliar surroundings, the Thais were welcomed here by the cold. Despite all this, a 1:1 draw was achieved, which marked the lowest point of the end of the year for the Estonian men’s A team.
Unfortunately, the 0:5 defeats against Sweden and Belgium belong to the “it could be like this” category. They were still the 1/8 finalists of the previous European Championship. And the 0:2 home defeat against Azerbaijan was a very unpleasant, even disgusting result. But it wasn’t a big surprise. If before the game 100 dice were distributed among the possible variants of the final score according to the theory of probability calculation, then among the six or seven largest there would be a stack of defeats 0:2.
But Thailand’s B team, playing in extreme conditions, was a team Estonia would still have had to defeat convincingly at home. Unfortunately the performance and result were disappointing and disappointing. The already negative context has been amplified by off-field scandals in Estonian football. Karpini’s photo and the lack of reaction to UEFA’s decision regarding the Russian youth teams were not forgotten, they amplified the terrible situation of the A team and thus created a flow of criticism aimed at the entire Estonian football, the strongest in the last 15 years .
The main responsibility for the external image of Estonian football lies in fact with the men’s A team. Estonia is one of the few European countries where football is undoubtedly the number one sport, but Estonians know Europe better than ever and understand how important this game is elsewhere.
In fact, it is more correct to say that football is not a game or a sport, but a separate cultural field that has taken root in various social segments and processes. In Estonia it is not understood this way and they try to see football according to the same standards as other sports.
As you know, Estonia and Estonians care a lot about what people think of us. We love being in the top five students and proud sporting achievements are an important part of being in the top five. In football, there are two great successes to demonstrate: beating Slovenia, Serbia and Northern Ireland to reach the European Championship qualifiers in 2011 and FC Flora reaching the group stage of the Conference League in 2021. However, the first happened very long ago, while the impact of the second remained modest due to coronavirus-related restrictions and a hostile start to spectators.
And in Estonian sport, for many years, the principle that what is done under the blue-black-white is much more important and influential than what is done in clubs has borne fruit. Therefore, if the national team plays successfully, the image of Estonian football is good. If it’s not successful, then it’s bad. At the end of 2023 the situation is bleak, because the team was last in the selection round and scored only two goals in eight games there.
It was the Estonian team’s sixteenth selection tournament after the restoration of independence. In four cases they finished last in the subgroup. The first two selection series (1994 World Cup and 1996 European Championship) resulted in one draw, 19 defeats and four goals after 20 games.
Things went better in the third round of selection, when Belarus was defeated 1-0 by Sergei Hohlov-Simosni’s goal in Kadriorg, and the 0-0 draw against Scotland was achieved in Munich thanks to a brilliant match by Mart Poom . In that selection group, they took fifth place among the six teams and managed to avoid the last position for more than 20 years, until the 2019 EC selection series had a 0:0, seven defeats and two goals.
In the World Cup qualifying series played in 2021 under Thomas Häberl only four points were earned, but the nine goals scored and the fourth place in the qualifying group allowed it to be considered a success. However, this year’s EC selection series was a nasty cold shower that revealed Estonia’s fragility. In the strongest part of the football world there is an unforgiving competition.
Estonia is not the only one to have experienced this firsthand. Four-time world champion Italy watched two consecutive World Cups from the sidelines, the Netherlands failed to reach the 2016 European Championship played with the participation of 24 teams, and for Slovenia, which often produces as a reference point , next year’s European Championship will be only the second final tournament in the last 22 years.
And Iceland, who won everyone’s hearts at the 2016 European Championships and the 2018 World Cup, managed to overcome Liechtenstein twice and Bosnia-Herzegovina once in the last two qualifying series, but fell behind Macedonia of the North, Armenia and Luxembourg. All these examples demonstrate that the competition for men’s Serie A teams in Europe is strong and broad.
And the results of the Estonian team in the last three qualifying series (one win, three draws and 20 defeats from 24 matches, goal difference 13:69) indicate that this competition is currently not within our team’s reach. In Estonia it is believed that the football team fell into these selection series. In football people are not necessarily so categorical, but the situation is not embellished.
But perhaps the starting point of the evaluation is completely wrong? Perhaps Estonian football culture is still so fragile that it won’t make it to Europe. Players and coaches are straightened out and investments and infrastructure are created from the cultural level of football. If he is (for historical reasons beyond the control of the current football managers) one of the thinnest in Europe, we will see the result on the pitch.
Of course, we want to beat Azerbaijan both in a single match and in the selection series, but if you compare the football resources of the two countries (e.g. the number of players, money, infrastructure), there is no logical reason why l ‘Estonia should beat Azerbaijan.
The European Championship qualifying series was a painful reality check: if the striker is injured, some key players are missing and some key players are out of form, then the Estonian team is not capable of anything memorable. Especially if the team is surrounded by an emotional context of a rather overwhelming character for various reasons.
If we had managed to get even a draw in Austria in March, the year could have gone completely differently. But even a happier context would not have guaranteed better results. The record doesn’t lie: this year the Estonian team hasn’t been capable of a single self-aggrandizement. Without them, however, we will not be successful in Europe.
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Paradoxically, after one of the saddest series of selections, Estonia has one of the best chances in history of reaching the final stage of the European Championship. In 2022, with the victory in Division D of the League of Nations, a place in the qualifying matches is redeemed, where the first opponent is Poland. The match will take place in Warsaw and, if Estonia manages to pull off a big surprise and win, they will meet Wales or Finland away in a match with a chance to qualify for the EC.
Considering the competition system strange is a fair criticism, but ridiculing the Estonian team’s move to game projections is not. The rules were written and known to all and Thomas Häberli made the decisions in September 2022 with this possibility in mind. The Estonian team did an exemplary job then and can now enjoy the fruits of it. As the players say, this is an amazing and unique opportunity.
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The Estonian women’s A team performed in the official matches of 2023 in the same way as the team, that is, it occupied exactly the place in the subgroup in which it was placed according to the strength groups used in the draw. Except that if the team was in last place in the subgroup, the women’s team was not, because in the fourth subgroup of the weakest, division C of the League of Nations, Estonia took second place.
Israel, which entered the subgroup from the first draw, suffered two clear defeats (0:5 and 1:4), and beat Kazakhstan (0:0 and 1:0) and Armenia (5:1 and 4:1 ). ). The points lost against Kazakhstan, defeated twice in last year’s World Cup qualifiers, in a 0-0 draw at home, cost the women’s team the opportunity to access the screening matches for promotion to Serie B. Among out of the 51 teams that participated in the League of Nations, Estonia ranked 41st.
2023-12-25 16:46:21
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