The qualifying system for football's major tournaments needs to change.

During last week's internationals, I was wondering just what smaller countries like ours can possibly hope to achieve by playing these qualifying matches?

Sure, the young Maltese lads get to pit their wits against some of Europe's best players and, once in a while, they even come out on top. And yes, the big names sometimes bring in big crowds at Ta' Qali.

But, generally speaking, our players just turn up, lose and go home. And that isn't fair, logical or productive.

Surely, it would make considerably more sense if Malta actually had a chance of making it to the finals. If they went into each match, not as odds-on favourites for defeat, but with every chance of winning.

And I have a plan that will achieve just that.

Fifa and Uefa need to get their heads together and set up a separate qualifying group that brings together all of Europe's smaller nations: Malta, Iceland, Cyprus, Andorra, San Marino, Lichtenstein and the Faroe Islands.

The winner of that group could then go on to play a runner-up from one of the 'main' groups with the ultimate prize being a place in either the European Cup or World Cup.

Make sense? It does to me.

I, for one, am sick and tired of watching my national team turn up for matches hoping not to be on the receiving end of a good hiding. Where is the fun in that?

For every one result like the victory over Hungary there are a dozen 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0 defeats. Even our national coach admits he heads into some games hoping to lose by only a certain amount. It is just plain wrong.

To make matters worse, the big boys keep complaining about having us in their groups, saying such mismatches don't help them or the minnows. And they are 100 per cent right.

Can you imagine how much more of an incentive it would be for our international players knowing there is actually some light at the end of the tunnel? How much more pride and passion they would feel knowing they weren't just turning out to make up the numbers?

On our day, Malta could beat any one of the small nations' teams I mentioned. We may lose a few along the way, but we would always be in with a decent shout of qualifying.

And what about the fans? I rarely go to the ground to watch Malta because I don't like the idea of seeing us struggle against teams with vastly bigger human resources to draw from.

But would I turn up to support the lads if they were playing in a group they could actually win? I'd be there with my scarf and T-shirt on. Can you imagine the atmosphere at the stadium if we just needed to beat San Marino to be one game away from booking our place in the World Cup? It would be absolutely electric. People would be fighting to get tickets.

The South End Core have done an absolutely magnificent job of supporting Malta. They have the right levels of passion and commitment. But, let's be honest, they are fighting a losing battle in the long term. What they need is something to really cheer about, a proper objective for their support.

Of course, there will be those who say my idea is unworkable. Like the officials who love the system the way it is because it provides so much variety in their travel plans.

But I think it would work. And I will keep on insisting it is the right way forward until someone is able to convince me otherwise.

Nothing would make me more proud than listening to the Maltese national anthem at the finals of a major tournament. And I am I sure I speak for tens of thousands of local fans when I say that.

So please Fifa, give us a fighting chance to achieve the dream.

To Hull and back

By the time the end of the season comes around I may need a very, very large plate to accommodate the several helpings of humble pie that appear to be heading in my direction.

I'm already due a hefty slice of the aforementioned delicacy for writing off Liverpool's title challenge before the season had really got underway.

Ultimately, they may fail to win the league, but the fact they are actually making a fight of it makes a mockery of my prediction.

Now it seems like another of my attempts at seeing the future is going badly awry.

Hull City. A team playing in the Premiership - indeed the top flight - for the first time in their history. A team I confidently predicted would struggle to win a game, let alone stay up.

And yet, despite my assertions, going into this weekend they were third in the table having made a start to the season that has stunned everyone involved.

Unlike many other teams that make it into the big time, Hull have arrived at the top table of English football full of hunger, desire and the belief that they have every right to be there.

They don't approach games looking to avoid a heavy defeat, playing six in midfield. They are going into every game convinced they can win it.

And that particular mindset is paying huge dividends with wins over Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle and West Ham already under their belts.

Before the season started I was utterly convinced Hull would be another Derby. They only made it up via the play-offs and, while solid at Championship level, they hardly stormed their way to promotion.

Of course, it could still go horribly wrong and they could go into freefall. But that is looking increasingly unlikely to happen to a team that is now, realistically, only five or six wins away from securing their top flight status.

So that's two slices of humble pie already. And with three quarters of the season left to go I dare say that particular plate may get substantially fuller.

Good job I'm a big lad.

Your say

Apparently, the tackle on Michael Mifsud left you all fuming. And rightly so. Here are a couple of the e-mails I received on the subject:

A. Grech writes:

"When I saw the replay of the Mifsud tackle I have to agree I was truly horrified. This was a definite attempt by the Hungarian player to injure Mifsud and he should have been given a straight red card.

"How that might have changed the game is mere conjecture and we will evidently never know. However, I feel it might have given Malta the impetus to go on and win a game in which they were never really dominated by a supposedly superior team.

"What will be interesting is to see whether Fifa or Uefa can be bothered to even watch the video of this particular incident and take appropriate retrospective action by giving the player a long ban from the game.

"You can bet your bottom euro they would do it if it was some Italian, French or English superstar player that had had his head deliberately stamped on. But do we Maltese count enough? Let's wait and see."

Malachy Portelli writes:

"I agree with you that England are a different team when compared with the past three to four years, but they are yet to face a real strong side of calibre, such as Spain and Germany, and actually provide a strong performance accompanied by a win. I'm sure they are on the right track, as Capello is not a manager who accepts failure, so I'm sure they will be great.

"A comment on the tackle also. I totally agree with you on that if the tackle was on Rooney, Ronaldo, Messi, etc., we would hear about it for years, but because it is on Mifsud it's not a problem. Unfortunately, that's how it is."

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com