Liam Beglan - page 3

Liam Beglan has 24 articles published.

Euro 2020 opens up friendly new frontiers for Gibraltar

in Features/Sport Insight
Euro 2020

QUALIFICATION for the finals of Euro 2020 was always going to be an impossible dream for Gibraltar, the early promise displayed in narrow defeats home and away in the opening fixtures to the Republic of Ireland failed to come to fruition and bruising defeats from group heavyweights Denmark and Switzerland followed, with Georgia piling on the punishment twice, firstly with a 3-0 win in Tbilisi, followed by a much improved performance from Julio’s boys in losing a thriller by the odd goal in five against the Georgians at a frenzied Victoria Stadium last month. That magnificent second-half recovery saw Gibraltar roar back from a two-goal halftime deficit to parity, with goals from evergreen stalwarts Lee Casciaro and Roy Chipolina – the stadium was rocking, Georgia was rocking, victory was within grasp, surely at least the first group point or, savour it, finally the first  glorious victory was about to come to pass, the dream was becoming a reality, and then…. disaster, against the run of play the visitors scored, the dream was crushed and cold cruel reality was restored. Joe Chipolina’s heroic Lions of the Rock deserved better.

Played 6, lost 6, goals for 2, goals conceded 19 is the stark summary of Gibraltar’s campaign so far, unfortunately those figures can be expected to significantly worsen, as the Rock’s last two games are away to Denmark and at home to Switzerland three days later, two countries engaged in a fierce three-way battle with Ireland for the coveted two tickets to travel to the Euro 2020 finals. Goal difference could be crucial in deciding which nations prevail, so it will be time to don tin hats and strategy will, of necessity, consist of mass defence, with much demanded of ‘keeper Kyle Goldwin, ideally ensconced on the goal line inside a big red No.5 double-decker bus!

So, it is with a certain amount of trepidation we look forward to Group D’s final two games, but however welcome world headline-grabbing events like last year’s sensational double over Liechtenstein and Armenia, Gibraltar’s increasing role in international sport means far more than success on the playing field. Entry to UEFA and FIFA competitions, so long denied by a big bully neighbour, has opened up a magical wonderland of travel to and from exotic, exciting places. Gibraltar is a picture postcard destination, I doubt there is a single person on the planet who isn’t familiar with the iconic outline of The Rock, that ghostly form, like a great grey ship that has run aground, an image better known universally than any of the seven wonders of the world, a sun-kissed Shangri La, just waiting to be explored.

This year Euro 2020 qualification ties have seen fun-filled visits by football fans from Ireland, Denmark and Georgia, the Irish clash last spring especially will live long in the memory – the sight of hundreds of red and green clad rival footy fans, drinking, dancing and singing together in uninhibited harmony at a bemused Ocean Heights still evoke a warm glow in these dark days for sport, when populism, racism and xenophobia seem to be reappearing in less enlightened lands. Not a single incident, not a single discordant note, and the fun was repeated in the Europa League when Stevie Gerrard’s mighty Glasgow Rangers flew in to meet and beat St Joseph’s, no howls of protest from visiting Gers fans even when republican songs so rapturously received for the Ireland game were innocently replayed to the perplexed and very non-receptive unionist contingent. Understandable it was that local Sports Arena staff could scarcely be expected to immediately grasp the intricacies of centuries of tribal conflict and ritual, but it all ended well, no blood was spilled, the hand of friendship rather than the fist  of fury triumphed.

The looming spectre of a ‘No Deal’ Brexit threatens roadblocks to current ease of travel throughout Europe and, according to the excellent government booklet worst case scenario on the vexatious issue, would see delays of up to eight hours at the frontier, new visa requirements, replacement passports and driving licences, new medical insurance required as the existing EHIC medical card would no longer be valid. Quite why anyone would consider that nightmare prospect preferable to the current seamless travel arrangements is a bit of a puzzler, and I have yet to speak to a Gibraltarian who disagrees with me. However, it is a different story among the UK expat community, some of whom vociferously champion a no-deal exit, citing the usual piffle about sovereignty and taking back control etc, etc… Name me one positive outcome, I challenge, and back came a rather hesitant response – ‘the return of full duty-free at airports’. Pardon…? Have you forgotten that we all live in Gibraltar, the Land of the Duty Free? Bizarre!

Next up on the Euro itinerary is a visit to Copenhagen for the return fixture against Denmark, long regarded as one of the happiest places on Earth to live, free medical care, free education, very generous maternity and paternity leave, fantastic social care benefits, all of which the Danes are happy to pay for with taxation rates of up to an eye-watering 60 percent. There is, however, one problem that is causing their government some angst, to the extent an initiative has been announced called “Do It For Denmark”… it’s the nation’s low birth rate! Yes, it appears that the Vikings, the scourge of the Atlantic island communities for centuries, raping and pillaging, wanton behaviour that gave rise to the cry on those stricken islands of ‘Lock up your daughters, lock up your wives, the Vikings are coming’, are now firing blanks or not firing at all in the bedroom! Odin and Thor must be spinning in their graves.

Three days later Gibraltar conclude the campaign when Switzerland, another of Europe’s top sides are welcomed to Victoria Stadium – don’t be late, the cuckoo-clock men know a thing or two about timekeeping!

Golf News

in Sport Insight

New season & exciting new format!

The key changes are aimed at opening up the Med Golf Masters to more players, making the final Masters day a much bigger & better event.  

The category limits will be moved, handicaps reviewed and there will be a change in the way that scores affect handicaps

We will be having 7 individual events starting at El Paraiso on 15th September. The full fixture list will be published on the Med Golf website medgolfmembers.com.

Handicaps:

Over 40% of the players last year were in Category 2. To create a more balanced spread, handicap category limits will be changed as follows:

  • Category 1:  up to 13
  • Category 2: 14 – 21
  • Category 3: 22 -30

Maximum handicaps: 30 for men and 36 for ladies.

Event Format

Under the current system only 10 players can qualify for the Med Golf Masters, the new format will potentially allow 38 players to qualify. The winner of each event and the winners of each category will qualify for the Masters (28 players). Moreover, the current Order of Merit will be retained with the top ten also qualifying as in previous years

Event PRIZES

Event Prizes

Prizes for each of the 6 events: 

  • Overall winner: Trophy 
  • Exclusive ‘Masters qualifier’ shirt from Cohen & Massias & Gedime Motors
  • Cohen & Massias sponsored Tag Heuer voucher valued at £150
  • Med Golf Masters invitation

Category winners: 

  • Exclusive ‘Masters qualifier’ shirt from Cohen & Massias & Gedime Motors
  • Med Golf Masters invitation
  • If a previous winner, the player receives a £40 vouchers

Additional Prizes

  • Best gross trophy 
  • Longest drive 
  • Nearest the pin on par 3’s 
  • Best gross score on the par 3’s 
  • Top senior 
  • Best pairs 
  • Best dressed golfer, voted by Judith 

Score card draw monthly prizes
End of season Player of the Year 

Trophy and one year’s free golf at Estepona Golf

Med Golf Masters prizes  

Med Golf Masters Champion: Trophy and Tag Heuer Golf Watch valued at £1500. Med Golf Corporate Champion: Trophy

Invitation

We look forward to seeing you at the first event of the season, The Famous Grouse Trophy held at El Paraiso on the 15th  of September.

Designed in 1973 by Gary Player, El Paraiso is one of the most established courses on the Costa del Sol. Set out in the peaceful El Paraiso valley with the backdrop of the majestic ‘La Concha’ mountain to the north and the sparkling Mediterranean to the south, El Paraiso has the envious reputation of providing one of the best championship course layouts on the coast, which draws players back time and time again. 

Sounds good? You can now enter your name with Ian –
medgolf.events@gmail.com

Happy golfing

Red Rose Chariot

in Sport Insight

Ready to roll to thwart three-in-a-row all black quest

RUGBY UNION is set to unleash the most spectacular sports show on Earth in Japan this month when the supremacy of the superpowers of the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa will be challenged by Europe’s elite, Wales, England, Ireland and Scotland – each nation carrying the hopes and aspirations of their respective rugby-mad populaces, propelled by wild waves of public expectation as they set sail on an epic voyage of discovery to the Land of the Rising Sun, a fevered quest to claim the greatest prize in global sport, rugby’s World Cup, the Webb Ellis Trophy – so named, legend has it, after the schoolboy said to have inadvertently invented the game when he picked the ball up and ran with it during a football  match.

Forget football’s World Cup, stuff Super Bowl, that risible stop-start bore-fest where the obscenely overpaid participants are kitted out better protected than wartime frontline troops, above all bin the boring, powder-puff, illegitimate offspring league version practised up North, the ridiculous ring-a-ring-a-rosy, chase me, catch me and I’ll fall down six times monotony of the 13-man non-event. Instead, celebrate the thinking man’s sport, where the magic moves and thrilling strategies come straight from the grandmaster’s table, rugby union’s World Cup – fearless hand-to-hand bone-crunching combat, no protective gear here, save for a flimsy jock-strap to keep meat and two veg intact, no doubt to quell the fears of girlfriends and wives waiting fretfully by the sideline, a game of chess with violence, the gladiators weaponised by both brain and brawn, no quarter asked, no quarter conceded, each side hell-bent on crossing the try-line, failure not an option, resistance heroic but futile – the spectacle irresistible to the mesmerised sell-out stadiums and global TV audiences of billions.

The ultra-exciting extravaganza kicks off on Friday 20th September when hosts Japan take on the dour Russians, a tie the home side will certainly win, although possessed of fleet of foot and fleet of hand, further progress for Japan will be inhibited by lack of height in that vital aerial area of the game – the Lineout, the playpen of the almost 7ft giants, and with the male height of the average native being just a tad over 5ft 7ins the problem seems insurmountable, nevertheless, ball in hand, they are a very exciting team to watch.

Defending champions New Zealand approach this tournament looking for their fourth title and third in a row, but with recent defeats to Australia and Ireland twice, plus a very lucky win over England, the All Blacks at last look vulnerable, and I’ll be looking to one of the Six Nations sides, European leaders Wales, England or Ireland to slay the mighty Kiwis. I have dismissed Scotland’s chances, even though on a good day they are more than capable of beating any side, the trouble with the Jocks being that they are more adept at plumbing the depths far more often than scaling the heights. What must not be allowed to happen again though is a repeat of the fiasco of the 1915 event when the semi-finals were contested by all four Southern Hemisphere countries, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina, and this despite the fact the tournament was hosted in England – a truly shameful episode for European Rugby.

So, the burning question is, which of the three home nations will I be burdening with my pony (£25) to raise aloft the Webb Ellis Trophy in Yokohama on final day, Saturday 2nd November? Reigning Six Nations grand slam champions Wales will fancy their chances of ruling the world, but the grievous  loss of the talismanic Toby Faletau so soon after inspirational Lions skipper Sam Warburton was forced to retire probably is a bridge too far for the Men from the Valleys. Ireland, who have scalped the All Blacks twice recently, won’t be lacking in confidence, and I can see the Green Machine surge towards the final, but after hours burning the midnight oil, I’m entrusting England with my wager at odds of 11/2  to win the World Cup for the second time.

Note to Gibraltar pubs and clubs: The action starts just after dawn each day and lasts for six weeks, and as the home nations race closer to their final date with destiny and the excitement mounts to frenzy level, stock up on the cider and the beer, open early, I and thousands of others will be there, to share in another celebrated chapter of the world’s greatest game.

GROUP GAMES INVOLVING THE HOME NATIONS
(TV Coverage: All Games ITV; All Kick Offs UK times)

Facts & Stats

RUGBY UNION’S 2019 World Cup takes place in Japan, starting on 20th September with the final due to be played on 2nd November. It is the first time the finals have been staged in Asia.

The contest is held every four years, this being the ninth in the series since the tournament was introduced in 1987.

New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup that year and the All Blacks have dominated the competition, winning  three of the eight trophies including the last two, with antipodean neighbours Australia sharing second place with South Africa on two apiece and with just one for England, the epic Red Rose victory of 2003, the sole occasion the Cup has been won by a Northern Hemisphere country.

Twenty nations contest the event this year with five in each of the four qualifying  pools, the top two group teams advancing to the quarter finals and knockout stage.

The 2019 Rugby World Cup Final takes place in Yokohama on Saturday 2nd November (KO 9.00am)

THE FRIENDLY GAMES

in Sport Insight

The Opening Ceremony on Saturday 6th July will take place at the new state of the art Europa Point Sports Complex, where hosts Gibraltar will warmly welcome over 2,000 athletes representing 23 island communities to the games. Most of the competing islands will be well known and loved, like the Isle of Man, where the inaugural games were first held in 1985 and who topped the gold medal-winning table at the last games in Gotland with 39, the lovely Isle of Wight where I’ve been spending summer family vacations over decades, the Channel Islands, Guernsey and Jersey, although I must confess that my knowledge of the latter has been gleaned mainly from watching episodes of the wonderful Bergerac TV series. Other competitors are a tad more obscure, such as Åland, Froya, Hitra, Gotland and Saaremaa, add in the history-steeped duo of the Falklands and St Helena and the tantalizing mixture of mystery and history is irresistible to this inquisitive travel-obsessed rambler, so please come with me and spend a few moments exploring these modern-day love islands.

Located in the Baltic Sea and belonging to Finland, Åland Islands consists of a staggering 6,700 islands, many just large rocks jutting out of the sea, with just 80 habitable, a population of just under 30,000, ninety percent of whom live on Fasta Åland and, not surprisingly, are engaged in fishing, farming and shipping. The capital Mariehamn is a popular tourist destination, a nature paradise famed for the beautiful butterflies that inhabit the thousands of flowering meadows surrounding it – a postcard destination that I’ve added to my soon-to-visit list and I’ll be looking to get first hand information from the natives this month when the Viking invaders come calling for the games.

Froya and Hitra islands, both with a population of just under 5,000, are linked to each other and to mainland Norway by tunnel. Fishing is the primary source of employment on both islands with Froya famous for its heather and plant life while Hitra boasts enormous herds of wild red deer. Both islands enthusiastically embrace the games but, alas, the tiny populations have meant that since 1985 a total of just four gold medals have been won, three for Hitra and just one for Froya.

Also located in the Baltic Sea lies the 2017 Games hosts Gotland, Sweden’s largest island with a population of almost 60,000, most of them engaged in tourism and agriculture, many of whom will be travelling to the Rock brimming with confidence of adding to their impressive all-time haul of 243 golds.

The Estonian island of Saaremaa, a member of the games since 1991, has roughly the same population as Gibraltar, is an idyllic land where time appears to have somewhat stood still, villages with thatched houses and windmills where the men fish the sea and the women till the land, another addition to my must-visit list.

The South Atlantic is home to two members steeped in centuries of history –  The Falklands, where Maggie went to war to expel an invading “neighbour from hell”, and St Helena, one of the most isolated islands in the world, where Napoleon was exiled to and died a few years later. Neither of the sparsely populated islands will be confident of striding on to the winners’ rostrum, but the Port Stanley contingent will be hopeful of at least topping the solitary bronze medal reward of 2017.

It’s nearly time, the expectation and excitement is bubbling as the Games Mascot, a lovable cheeky, cheery dolphin called Hope, gets ready to greet the thousands of athletes and their supporters as they arrive from many exotic faraway places. I’ve just been down to the Post Office on Main Street and been shown a stunning series of stamps, each one beautifully depicting one of the Games’ 14 sports – an absolute stamp collectors’ must-have dream for their album. Be quick, I can see stocks vanish pronto!

Casemates Square is where the medals will be presented each evening and how nice it would be to see Gibraltar add to the 26, six of them gold, won at the last games in 2017. Summer Nights-style entertainment follows the medal-awards ceremony, so the Square is most definitely the place to be for the twilight hours. The weather forecast is fine, the sun will have its hat on, the pubs are double stocked, the visitors are on the way – let the Friendly Games commence – I can’t wait!

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