The Andorran club making history with a Pochettino in the team
Maurizio Pochettino and inter Club d'Escaldes are set to make European history for footballing minnows Andorra.
Key points
- Inter Club d'Escaldes became the first Andorran club to reach a European competition's league or group phase.
- They beat Drita on penalties after a 2-2 play-off first leg, with Maurizio Pochettino scoring his spot kick.
- Inter are projected to earn over 3m euros from the league stage, about 2.5 times their annual budget.
Inter Club d'Escaldes have become the first Andorran side to reach the league or group phase of a European competition. The club secured their place by beating Drita in a Uefa Conference League play-off that went to penalties after the first leg ended 2-2 in Kosovo.
Maurizio Pochettino, son of former Espanyol and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, scored his penalty in the return leg in Andorra. A Drita miss then allowed striker Faysal Chouaib to convert the decisive kick and spark celebrations at Andorra's national stadium.
A historic achievement
Inter were founded in 1991 and helped form Andorra's top flight four years later. After relegation in 2015, they returned to the Primera Diviso under new ownership in 2017 and won their first league title in 2019-20. Five titles in the past seven seasons have ended the dominance of FC Santa Coloma.
Pochettino, 25, told BBC Sport the achievement had not yet sunk in. "It feels like it hasn't sunk in yet," he said, adding that for such a small country and league it was a dream come true.
We've been able to get here so we deserve to be here.
— Maurizio Pochettino
What it means for Andorran football
Former Andorra defender Ildefons Lima, who represented the country for 26 years and leads the nation in appearances and goals, said the qualification shows reaching the Conference League's final stages is a realistic objective. He added that it could help Andorran football continue to grow step by step.
Inter are projected to earn over 3m euros from the league stage, about 2.5 times their annual budget. Their success has also lifted Andorra into the top 50 of Uefa's club coefficient rankings, meaning four Andorran clubs will enter European qualifiers next summer for the first time.
Manager Felip Ortiz, appointed in 2024, said the achievement could attract players who previously did not want to join the league. Inter begin their campaign away to Swedish champions Mjallby on Thursday, before facing Red Star Belgrade, FC Copenhagen and Getafe.
