There's nothing we love more around these parts than a footballing underdog or minnow. That's why we were rooting for Liverpool against Wycombe yesterday and why we were euphoric when they giant-killed once again. No wonder, then, that American Samoa's World Cup qualifying campaign

occupies our thoughts, night, noon and morning. Not only are they the lowest ranked nation in FIFA's pop parade, not only did they have to buy boots for their bootless squad on the eve of their qualifier against Fiji, they also discovered last month that 95 per cent of their squad was ineligible to partake in the campaign because they did not have American Samoan passports.

The five per cent of the squad who were eligible were then promptly joined by pretty much any American Samoan citizen with a passport in his back pocket and a half decent right peg - average age: ne-ne-ne-ne-ne 19. They kicked off yesterday against Fiji and . . . and . . . lost: 13-0. We fear their hopes of making it to Jap-Kor are as sky-scrapingly lofty as, well, Andorra's. But, if Liverpool can beat Wycombe then Planet Football says: nothing's impossible.