A different perspective

So today, England beat France in a World Cup semi-final and fair play to them. I didn't see the game, but I am assured I didn't really miss anything.

In any case, that's not really what I want to talk about. A proud sporting nation reaching the final of a major tournament is one thing, but the biggest sporting story of the day came not in Paris or Glasgow, but in Gomel, Belarus.

"What?" I hear you cry, but fear not, my point is coming. Belarus played Luxembourg in a European Championship qualifier. Neither side had any chance of qualifying, so there was little at stake. The home side, whilst hardly giants of the European game, would have expected to win the game easily, since they had a couple of handy players such as Arsenal's Alexander Hleb, and that Luxembourg had lost their last 55 competitive games. Fifty-five. Even San Marino and Liechtenstein, with significantly less population and competitive history, have ground out some draws and wins in that time.

But Luxembourg held on. For 90 minutes they held on, encountering a Belarussian barrage and offering little themselves. In the fifth minute of injury time Luxembourg found themselves in the opponents half. They might have just gone to the flag and settled for the draw, but there was an opportunity for a cross into the box which, unbelievably, found a Luxembourg head and the ball flew into the net.

Cue silence in the crowd and delerium on the Luxembourg bench. This little nation, a country whose ambitions are often restricted to the odd 1-0 defeat and if they are really lucky, a friendly draw, had just recorded its first win since 1995. That's like me not seeing Northern Ireland win since I was 11. I know the no-scoring streak was long, but it wasn't that long.

It puts things into perspective, really. You have the likes of Germany, France, England etc with legitimate chances of winning the thing, whose managers will lose their jobs if the don't make it, and then you have Luxembourg who win games once every twelve years. And their fans will celebrate this result as much as a World Cup win, and after waiting twelve years, don't they deserve it.