I have always believed in the potential of small and developing states to be self-reliant, for the simple reason that the most important element to progress in life is the development of the mind, which is conducive to the development of human resources and their wise deployment.

I do not mean that any small state, or even a large one at that, can isolate itself from other countries in the belief that it needs no other to attain full self-dependence.

Not all academics had a similar belief. There was a time when specialised economic journals gave prominence to articles describing small states as leading to a mirage until the ‘bursting of the bubble’. Recent history disproves this fact; it shows that small states have weathered tolerably well the financial tsunami that started in 2008.

Malta, one of the smallest states, is just one example. Its economic performance since then has progressively improved, as all its economic indicators clearly show.

However, the rise of small states should not be limited to the economic field. Other important factors can make a country proud, which may as well have spillover effects on a national economy. A case in point is this year’s Euro championship, held in France.

Here, small-sized countries, in terms of economy, geography and population size, have given hard lessons to larger and more favoured countries that normally consider a walkover when faced with opponents that are comparatively small.

History was made by the small states that have participated in this year’s edition. Particular reference should be made to Belgium, Iceland and Wales.

Of the three, Belgium and Wales have more advantages than Iceland, for the simple reason that they form part of a larger land mass, thereby benefiting from the expertise that prevails in their larger neighbour countries. Their players interact with more experienced footballers, and ideas pertaining to strategies, tactics and the psychological approach to the game urges them to continually improve the quality of their play.

If Maltese leaders nurture our children withthe necessary skills in sports activities, wewill certainly cultivate a sense of national pride

It is unfortunate that both teams had to meet in the quarter-final stage that forced the exit of Belgium and landed Wales in its first semi-final at an international tournament.

Out of these three relatively small states, Iceland has been the revelation of this year’s Euro championship. The players earned the respect of millions of football fans through their bravery in accepting stiff challenges, the players’ superb organisational play and coherent teamwork.

The fact that the team was severely beaten by the host country should not diminish in any way the glory achieved. One has to ask how this phenomenal progress in the field could have come about when only four years ago its national team was ranked in the 133rd position.

In the past two decades, Iceland’s football association made huge investments to improve the game. Thirty full-sized, all weather pitches were built, seven of them indoors. In addition, another 150 smaller artificial arenas were purposely built so that small children could continue to play football indoors.

It was therefore no wonder that Heimir Hallgrimsson, the national team’s joint coach, said that “every village wanted an artificial pitch close to almost every school”.

Added to the football infrastructure, Iceland has 639 people holding a Uefa B licence. This is really a huge number in relation to a population of 330,000 people.

It is understandable that every place wanted to have a good football team for both parents and their children.

Hallgrimsson described the question succinctly when he said: “We teach our kids from a young age and we give them good sessions with trained coaches, so that’s why we get a lot of young players going abroad early, which they have to do to continue their development professionally.”

Perhaps what Guðni Jóhannesson, the newly elected president, said is good advice to our small nation: “I think sport has strong connections to the national psyche; when Iceland is playing, everybody gets behind the team and there is hardly ever any schadenfreude.”

And he continued: “This achievement in France is helping in that regard, but afterwards I hope we will continue to argue about politics, about justice, about all the vital issues that make up our society – because we should disagree on so many things. The foundation of a civic society is the right to disagree, and we certainly use that right well here in Iceland.”

If Maltese leaders heed what Jóhannesson and Hallgrimsson said and nurture our children with the necessary skills in sports activities, we will certainly cultivate a sense of national pride.

It will also be beneficial to strong character formation to learn to tolerate different opinions and create a better sense of camaraderie, which will negate the sense of bullying and intolerance.

Manuel Borda holds a PhD in economics and is the author of four novels.