Gibraltar boss Allen Bula insists Brazil should also be classed as minnows if his newcomers to the big stage are to carry that tag.
UEFA's 54th full member nation will contest its second competitive game against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday evening having been trounced 7-0 by Poland in its first Euro 2016 qualifier last month.
However, Bula bristles as the minnow tag despite his country boasting a population of less than 30,000 people and 600 registered footballers, and used Brazil's World Cup semi-final loss to Germany to support his case.
Asked whether smaller nations should have to pre-qualify, he said: "It's something that keeps cropping up and I keep on asking the same question to all those people who keep on saying this: how do you judge a minnow?
"Do you judge it by the size of your country or by the results? Because if that was the case, then Brazil would be a minnow because they lost 7-0 [7-1]. That's my argument.
"We all deserve to be here and as long as we can give a good game, then why should we pre-qualify? We are going in there and all of us have got to get ready.
"Every single manager that is with a national team and goes into a tournament should aim to reach what's at the end of the tunnel, and that's France.
"These arguments keep on coming up and to be honest with you, I am getting a bit tired of some of the big managers saying this.
"I think what it is is they are scared of the the so-called minnows because of the results lately by the minnows. Once they get a result against them, then they get stick.
"Like I say, Brazil, they lost 7-0. Should they be classed as a minnow now?"
"Every single manager that is with a national team and goes into a tournament should aim to reach what's at the end of the tunnel, and that's France" - Allen Bula
Despite their heavy defeat by the Poles, it has not been all doom and gloom for Gibraltar, who tasted victory over Malta in just their fifth match, and have also recorded draws against Slovakia and Estonia.
But there are only two full-time players among their ranks with the remainder of the squad made up of part-timers including policemen, firefighters and students.
Captain Roy Chipolina too insists they deserve their chance to rub shoulders with the big boys and even at the age of 31 is relishing the opportunity to learn.
He said: "We all want to play against the best players in the world. For example, we played Poland where we faced Robert Lewandowski and we realised the gap between he as an individual and ourselves.
Live coverage of Ireland v Gibraltar from 4pm on Saturday on RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and Radio 1. Live coverage of Germany v Ireland from 7pm on Tuesday on RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and 2fm.
