During the past week we have had the ignominy of having the three local clubs taking part in the European club competitions suffering big humiliations.

Champions Birkirkara lost 0-3 at home against another European minnow, B36 Torshavn from the Faroe Islands, Hibernians lost 0-4 at home to Dinamo Bucharest of Romania and Sliema also lost heavily – 0-5 – to another Romanian side Rapid Bucharest.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for all local football fans, especially the supporters of these four clubs who, by now, must have realised – if there was any need after all – how much our quality of football lags behind that of other nations, even those with a low level comparable to ours.

Birkirkara’s 3-0 defeat on Tuesday must rank as one of the biggest home humiliations by any Maltese team since our clubs started taking part in the Champions League. Suffering such a home defeat at the hands of a team of unknowns in Europe is no joke.

We have heard of many reasons for such a failure such as the team was lacking the services of five of their regular players – ruled out through injury. We also heard that the team was not at its best potential after just three weeks of preparation and it was also noted that the new foreign players had only been here for one week and therefore it was not possible for them to integrate perfectly within their new surroundings.

It is a well known fact that coach Stephen Azzopardi had to present an emergency formation. Still, the seven players fielded together with the four new foreigners, all have more than enough top premier league experience. What was lacking on the day was not the fitness of the players because I saw them trying for a consolation goal till the very end. They lacked commitment. There seemed to be not much determination and motivation on the part of the locals – and the new foreigners – to offer a strong challenge to the Faroe Islanders.

It was a complete disaster for the club after having suffered that early goal. It was a great shock from which they never recovered. But that was also another reason to confirm how poor is Maltese football.

In that match, for example, I noted that the Faroe Islanders were better prepared athletically, although this might have been expected as the northern Europeans start their season in May and have already played around 10 league matches so far. But they also had among their ranks three foreigners, two of whom, Sylla and Dos Santos, in the starting line-up. The other one, a Nigerian, was brought on as a substitute in the second half. It was clearly evident that these foreigners were, by bar, much better than any of the foreigners in the Birkirkara side.

How does a Faroe Islands club manage to get such good foreign players among their ranks and for the Maltese it has become so difficult to find players of a better quality than that of the locals? For that should be the main reason for bringing over some foreigners – to improve the quality and standard of the side.

Local clubs must realise that when it comes to making a selection of foreign players, some serious scouting has to be done. And more important, every arrival should undergo a thorough medical test as is done abroad before a pen is put to paper.

With all due respect, Birkirkara’s foreigners on Tuesday failed the test. But it was not all their fault. One cannot make an assessment of their true value after just one week in completely new surroundings. In my opinion, the Stripes management committee also failed. They knew, since the end of last season, or a week later, that they had to sign new foreigners. They also knew about the injuries to some of their regular top players. They also knew the dates of their first qualifying round fixtures, though they did not know their opponents. They also knew they were one of the seeded clubs and therefore, had a good opportunity to get a favourable draw. And that is exactly what happened. But they did not take advantage of the situation.

I do not know the exact reason why they did not move earlier in the selection of their foreign players. It is true the draws were only held recently and there was only a gap of a few days to give trials to players who had to be registered from 1 July – that is when the new season gets under way for UEFA and its affiliated associations, including, of course, the MFA.

For the Stripes, it was another dream over. And what a dream it was! A victory and qualification against Torshavn would have brought them a prize tie with Fenerbahce of Turkey, meaning a revenue of around Lm300,000 in TV rights alone. If they can perform a miracle this week, then Good Luck to them. May that really happen, but I wonder.

The other heavy defeats suffered by Hibernians and Sliema were also humiliating but not to Birkirkara’s extent.

The might of the two Romanian clubs is well known, but let it be said fairly and squarely that neither Dinamo, nor Rapid, are considered to be a sort of power in Europe, nothing comparable to clubs in Spain, Italy, Germany, England France and Holland, or their own Steaua Bucharest, for that sake. That is one reason why they also take part in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

One might have expected these two teams to be stronger to Malta’s representatives, but not to such an extent.

The Paolites were overwhelmed in the second half at Ta’ Qali, while Sliema suffered their humiliation in the first half, when they suffered all the five goals.

These results – the three of them – have made the forthcoming return legs a mere formality. It is a pity that at a time when Malta’s national team seems to be gathering momentum, albeit at a small pace, our clubs are failing miserably in Europe.

I sincerely hope that one day our clubs – and the national team – will be able to offer some joy to the local football followers, who will thus also be able to express their joy on the streets as most did on World Cup days – but because of the results of teams of other nations!