Opera, chronic power cuts and two million bottles of wine: Tony Hawks' guide to England's opponents Moldova
England take on Moldova for only the third time ever tonight in the Three Lions first World Cup 2014 qualifying match tonight.
We asked comedian Tony Hawks, author of Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, for 10 facts you never knew about the country. Being an industrious sort of chap, he sent us 16.
1) Moldovan opera singer Valentina Nafornita won the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2011.
2) In 1998 due to chronic power shortages - only one street in the whole country was lit - Boulevard Stefan Cel Mare, in the capital Chisinau. At the same time, gangs were regularly stealing manhole covers in order to melt the metal down. This made for the lethal cocktail of pitch darkness and holes in the ground. The situation no longer exists, thankfully.
3) Despite my book Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, which revealed Moldova's footballers to be mostly rather poor at tennis, Moldova's tennis players are actually rather handy with a racket. They recently beat Turkey in the Davis Cup.
4) Moldova was known as the wine cellar for the Soviet Union - the underground wine cellars at Milestii Mici hold the largest wine collection in the world which stands at around two million bottles.
5) Many of Moldova's domestic football clubs operate an interesting twist on the bonus system - they fine their players if they lose!
Check him out at his Gonzo artist page
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