Only in extreme circumstances can soccer fans revere an 8-1 defeat. But as the years went by, Estonians looked back with increasing fondness on their August 1942 match against Baltic neighbour Latvia. It was not until 50 years later, in June 1992, that Estonia again played as an independent nation, drawing 1-1 against Slovenia. It wasn’t just that for half a century Estonia was not an independent nation, it was that soccer became seen as a symbol of oppression.

Just as Gaelic sports took hold in the Republic of Ireland and soccer was seen as somehow alien and Other, so soccer – and ice-hockey – came to be regarded as the Russian game, while Estonians busied themselves with basketball, cycling and cross-country skiing.