Liechtenstein are, by European standards, the minnows’ minnows. After finishing bottom of their World Cup qualification group with just two points and a goal difference of -21 it will take a minor miracle for the microstate to improve on that performance.
Ranked 153rd in the world, the Alpine nation tends to devote its time to winter sports rather than the beautiful game. Their squad of players is drawn mainly from their own domestic championship and the Swiss league and doesn’t boast any household names, or anyone remotely approaching that.
One slight warning comes from the fact that the national team has improved in recent years and picked up a couple of surprising results. The Euro 2004 qualifiers saw the side frustrate England twice and they restricted Sven Goran Eriksson’s men to a pair of 2-0 victories.
Keeping the score down doesn’t count for much in qualification terms though and as well as recording a couple of wins over Luxembourg, the side managed a 2-2 draw at home to Portugal. Slovakia were also held to a draw, the match in Vaduz finishing 0-0. In the return match in Bratislava though, Slovakia rattled seven goals in, to no reply.
Realistically, Scotland should be taking six points from the matches against Liechtenstein. The side has finished bottom of their group in the last four European Championship qualifying campaigns, conceding 40, 39, 22 and 32 goals respectively.
Scotland have never met Liechtenstein in an international match but our club sides have travelled there in recent years. Both Falkirk and Livingston have faced Vaduz in European competition with differing results.
Falkirk gave themselves a good start by winning 1-0 at home last summer in the Europa League qualifying round. However, they were undone in the away tie, going down 2-0 and losing 2-1 on aggregate.
Livingston fared better when they faces the same side back in 2002. The Scottish side managed a 1-1 draw away from home before taking on Vaduz at Almondvale. A 0-0 draw was enough to put them through and that was the score after 90 minutes. However, the result could not have been closer as Vaduz scored right on the final whistle. The goal was disallowed as the referee insisted he had blown for full time before the ball hit the back of the net.
It’s safe to say that if Scotland go that close against the national team then we will have bigger things to worry about when facing the other sides in the group. The target against these minnows is clear, six points and no less.
