Long live the minnow

The perennial debate over the role of minnows in international football comes up with regularity when qualifiers are on, writes Emmet Ryan.

Darron Gibson and Anthony Stokes training ahead of their qualifier against Gibraltar on Saturday. Picture credit: David Maher / Sportsfile

The perennial debate over the role of minnows in international football comes up with regularity when qualifiers are on. The impossible task facing Liechtenstein, San Marino, Andorra, Tahiti, and, now, Gibraltar, is hard to defend on a competitive level. So rare are upsets or even scares that it's hard to objectively argue these sides belong on the same field as Germany or even Ireland.

Except for one thing: When shocks or even mini-shocks ...