The difference between professionals and amateurs & the case of the Andorra national team

I have followed international football for many years and usually find it interesting to watch matches involving national teams that are not considered powerhouses.

I have read many posts from people who have played the sport at a high level and the consensus is clear that there is an enormous gulf in ability between a professional football player and a strong amateur footballer.

In this regard, I actually find the case of the Andorra national team to be quite interesting. According to Wikipedia, 15 out of the 20 footballers who were called up for the November 2019 Euro 2020 qualifier against Turkey play in the top division of Andorra (Primera Divisió), which is non-professional.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra_national_football_team#Current_squad

Looking at their recent results, they finished their participation in the first UEFA Nations League with four draws and two defeats. In addition, they obtained four points during the Euro 2020 qualification campaign (courtesy of a home win against Moldova and an away draw with Albania), also losing narrowly in their visits to Moldova and Turkey.

I also remember some of their games from the 1990s and 2000s when on rare occasions they seemed to give even teams like France a run for their money. Heavy defeats such as the 0:7 loss against Croatia in 2006 seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

This 87th minute penalty kick scored by Frank Leboeuf gave France a 1:0 win over Andorra, with the three points ultimately proving crucial in securing qualification for Euro 2000, as the Frenchmen would have otherwise likely ended up in third position in their group, behind Ukraine and Russia.



Highlights from the match on French soil can be found here:



Andorra managed to keep a clean-sheet during the first half and judging by the French players’ body language (e.g. Zidane was getting quite frustrated), it’s clear that they were taking the game quite seriously.

In the last match of the Euro 2008 qualifiers Russia won against them by a score of 1:0 to pip England to the second place in the group, and there was a nervy ending to the game with Arshavin sent off.

Do you agree with the premise that it's quite surprising that a team with so few professionals in its ranks (for most of the Andorrans football is a secondary occupation) can be surprisingly dangerous against elite national sides that feature only professionals in their squads? If yes, what could be the reasons for that?

 

Thanks for the response, @Danko!

I agree - my guess is that Andorrans are a very well-drilled team (whenever I watch their matches, they seem competent defensively and when passing the ball to each other, especially given that they are a non-professional side) and are quite motivated, as the performances with the national team give them a chance to shine on the international stage. Maybe they benefit due to their proximity to Spain and opportunities to play in the Spanish lower leagues - Spanish coaches generally emphasize possession play and technical skills, which helps when it comes to the aim of not giving the ball away cheaply.

Also, I have noticed that games involving Andorra typically see quite a few yellow and red cards - their tactics of disrupting the flow of their opponents (sometimes through persistent fouling and on occasions provocations) seem to get under the skin of professional players.



This can also be seen in one of the videoclips in the first post where Zinedine Zidane appears to allow his temper to get the better of him and there is a brief scuffle between the two teams. I remember Andrei Arshavin, Ragnar Klavan and Philip Cocu getting themselves sent off in matches against Andorra as well as Wayne Rooney being substituted by Fabio Capello in order to avoid receiving a red card.

 

That's an amazing stat! I think that the format of the UEFA Nations League is giving a number of minnows the opportunity to post wins, secure draws and gain further confidence in their abilities, which may actually help them from a psychological standpoint when they eventually have to face the elite sides. The Faroe Islands also seem to have been punching above their weight in many qualifying campaigns and I expect to see Gibraltar improving quite a bit in the next ten years, especially if some of their footballers will be able to ply their trade in decent teams in Spain or England.

 

@Paul Echere, absolutely, if these ingredients are there, they can sometimes make all the difference. Judging by the highlights, it must have been a surprisingly enjoyable match to watch as a spectator. I think that Zizou (who I like a lot as a player and manager) and some of the Andorrans were somewhat lucky that the game was not refereed by an overly strict referee.

@ASU55RR, thanks, very interesting result. Scoring 3 goals against an English national side is no mean feat, no matter whether it's senior or junior level.

My national team actually faced Andorra during our last successful qualifying campaign for a major tournament (the one for Euro 2004 that saw us finish as top of our group). The Andorrans gave us a bit of a scare in the home match, which we dominated, though eventually only managed to win by a score of 2:1. Antoni Lima (the same hotheaded player who taunted Van Nistelrooy and was involved in a tussle with Zidane) netted a late header to reduce the deficit, but received a red card just minutes after that and we were able to see out the game.