Estonia Set for First World Cup Qualifier Tonight
Romania's national football team is in Tallinn today, warming up for what will be the first match in Estonia's 2014 World Cup qualification bid.
In the year-long series that determines which 13 European teams get a spot at the finals in Brazil, Estonia will also be going up against the Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary and Andorra in Group D.
The series marks Estonia's sixth attempt, since re-independence at least, at qualifying for the football's biggest event. In this, the team has never been successful and barring any flukes, this time around is not expected to be much different.
The Netherlands, currently occupying the number 8 spot in FIFA rankings, are the clear powerhouse of the group, while Turkey and Hungary, ranked 35th and 37th respectively, also have 55th-placed Estonia outgunned. Andorra, languishing in 199th position right behind Kyrgyzstan and South Sudan, is well set up to be the group's whipping boy.
The team that's most evenly matched with Estonia is in fact Romania, which could make for some interesting football tonight, even if it doesn't generate any hope that either team will be going to the big show in South America in two years.
Kickoff is at 21:00 Estonian time (18:00 UTC). It can be watched on the ETV2 feed below.
Steve Roman