THE BAD NEWS AND THE GOOD NEWS...

Last night, the might of English football overcame the minnows of Andorra in a World Cup qualifying match at the new Wemberley Stadium. There were concerns before the game about the effect the tube strike might have had on the attendance, In the end, 58,000 fans turned up - and apparently not one single Andorran away fan among them.

It`s entirely probable that they anticipated the drubbing and stayed away, preferring instead to remain in the sylvan peace and quiet of their Pyrennean hideaway. Last night`s result should surprise no-one and no amount of celebratory English euphoria should disguise the fact that Andorra has a population of about 88,000 and an area of 181 square miles. About the same number of people who live in the city of Lincoln and an area roughly the same as the `borough` of Ashford here in Kent. So not a huge pool of players to choose from and not a vast catchment area either.

The conclusion must therefore be that England should have won - and indeed did - win the game comfortably 6-0 and consign the `plucky` Andorrans to yet another in a long line of hefty defeats. Which is bad news if you`re an unhappy Andorran footy fan. The good news? Well, it seems that Andorra has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world - an average of 85 years. I`m not sure I wouldn`t swap that statistic for all their football ones.