The feeling of winning a group. Not usually reserved for the likes of the Faroes. The minnows finally get to see where they stand amongst their peers. In competitive matches.
And yes, with Switzerland-Ukraine cancelled I am watching Malta-Faroes. (Not Spain-Germany) Faroes on track to be promoted!
Say what you want about the Nations League, but when was the last time that NTs like these had something to celebrate? Primeros de grupo y ascenso en la Nations League! 🇦🇲⚽️Una imagen vale más que mil palabras, y esta es una de ellas donde se puede observar toda esa felicidad que rebosa de este gran equipo tras su brillante victoria.#NationsLeague #Armenia pic.twitter.com/yKAbGulBVk— Joaquín Caparrós (@JoaquinCaparros) November 18, 2020 🇬🇮We are Victorious! 🇬🇮🏆We are the UEFA Nations League, League D Group 2 WINNERS!🏆 pic.twitter.com/tUXez9QCMz— Gibraltar FA (@GibraltarFA) November 17, 2020
Beautiful images there. San Marino drawing / not allowing a goal TWO GAMES IN A ROW also, a highlight as far as I am concerned! Ireland, the biggest disappointment! 0,16 goals per game! Can't wait for the next edition!
I think Germany could be regretting not being relegated like they should have been if it wasnot for a format change by UEFA.
Nations league is a pain to play. Guys have already the leagues the european cups the euro and world cup qualifiers the euro and world cup tournaments. When a team doesn't have 50 players like France to use as they want it is very tough.
The Nations League replaces friendlies. Its not like they are playing additional matches. And yes, I understand there aren't unlimited substitutions like in friendlies but I think the difference between unlimited subs and "only" 5 subs is often overstated.
Honestly I prefer the Nations League over the friendlies they replaced. And you can debate on whether or not players take it serious but I believe they did.
Some interesting outcomes in this year's edition: - Slovakia getting relegated to League C instead of Scotland or Israel - Hungary getting promoted in Group B3 and Turkey getting relegated - Cyprus finishing last in Group C1 behind Luxembourg and Azerbaijan - Greece remaining in League C - Faroes and Gibraltar getting promoted to League C I mention Gibraltar because Liechtenstein should have had the edge in my opinion having existed much longer as a FA. The problem, as I see it, is that FC Vaduz are hellbent on playing in the Swiss Super League rather than playing as the "national team" in a lower division in the Swiss pyramid. I say rather than being a small market "elevator" team with non-Liechtenstein players accumulate the Liechtenstein national team in FC Vaduz and let them play as a club team. In that scenario I think they would dominate the likes of Gibraltar, San Marino, Andorra, Faroes and Malta. Maybe even others. But since my family roots are close to Liechtenstein perhaps I'm biased. Still hope that eventually we don't see a host team in the final four.
It is not really about the players taking it seriously but about the gas they have left for these games and about the lines up. This league is too exhausting for what it's worth.
The hilarious thing is that Turkey went into this last matchday with an outside shot at winning the group
For those in the "no one cares about the Nations League" crowd: right now, there is no shortage of Ukrainian rumors on Twitter that the canceled game was a Swiss conspiracy to stay up at Ukraine's expense
I don't know. For me, the useless friendlies that were played last Wednesday and Thursday is where your complaint should be directed. Hopefully this is just a result of COVID and the re-scheduling that resulted from the pandemic, and not the beginning of a new tradition. It is really too much to play 3 games in a FIFA window. And to make it worse, you have several teams playing today/Friday for their clubs. So that's 4 games in 8 or 9 days.
Well, damn - it's not just Twitter rumors: even Ukraine's FA is alleging that they could've played the game if it weren't for the heavy-handed local medical authorities.
I understand that those friendlies were only arranged so that the teams which played the euro2020 playoffs before both of their NL games were not disadvantaged against opponents who had not played the extra game.
With all due respect that doesn't make much sense. Yeah, that makes sense since it was only these 2 windows (i.e. Oct and Nov) that we had teams play 3 matches. Unfortunately (and again because of COVID and all the rescheduling), teams will have to play 3 qualifying matches in March and September breaks next year.
This league was planned to replace friendlies but at the same time there are rankings involved that are used for the qualifiers and euro. You can't deny that teams have more pressure about the results in this league than they had previously in simple friendlies. Guys use friendlies to make even more changes in their starting 11 cause they don't feel free to do it during nations league with the importance of the result.
Beckenbauer said few weeks ago that he doesn't know any single player interested in it. So the interest in it is just different from a country to another. There are countries playing it more seriously than others.
Nations scheduled their friendlies themselves and when they would lose one it would have less impact in the medias than it does now.