Pundits across Europe are up in arms over the latest round of trouncings the likes of San Marino and Andorra received in Euro 2008 qualifying this past week. What, if any, purpose does the presence of smaller nations like these serve in the qualifying process? A chance to improve your goal differential? San Marino was beaten 13-0 by Germany yesterday. England thumped Andorra 5-0 on Saturday and then Israel beat it 4-1 yesterday. Scotland put six past the Faroe Islands over the weekend as did Slovakia against Cyprus. These instances show how in many cases, it’s not just the superpowers who beat these minnows so comprehensivelyjust about everybody does. Simon Evans of Reuters points out that San Marino, which has something like 24,000 people (is it even really a country?) has never won a European Championship qualifier in 16 years of trying. And it probably never will. Same story with Andorra, and it’s slightly better for the Faroe Islands, Malta and Liechtenstein. Says Evans: “With a crowded fixture list of club and international football, it is hard to justify sending top players to face semi-professionals in games where the only doubt is the margin of victory.” Agreed, most of the top players who play in every competition are overextended as it is. It’s time to rethink European Championship qualifying.