This week, the Malta Football Association is celebrating an important and historic anniversary – 50 years since Malta started playing international football.
It was, in fact, on 24 February 1957 that Malta played its first ever international game against Austria at the old Gzira Empire Stadium. That memorable match from all aspects ended in a 3-2 win for the visitors, then considered among the greats in the continent.
It will remain forever memorable for it opened the gates for Malta to take part not just in friendly matches, but competitively as well. In fact, it also led to Malta joining UEFA and FIFA, the two main bodies of football. Hence our participation in the World Cup and European Championship qualifying rounds, not to mention our clubs’ participation in the European Champions Cup (now the Champions League), the now defunct Cup Winners Cup and the European Fairs Cities Cup (now the UEFA Cup).
Hats off to whoever got the idea of organising that Malta-Austria international. One cannot deny that Malta, despite all the obstacles, has made great strides forward, although we will have to remain with our feet to the ground forever. As former national coach Pietro Ghedin of Italy had once remarked: ‘we were small, we are still small and we will remain small for ever’. That remark applied for the past, still holds at present, and will hold for the future.
As a 10-year old child, I remember the whole country was gripped with enthusiasm on hearing the news that Malta was to play against Austria in a full international. When the big day finally arrived, all roads led to the Gzira Stadium. A crowd of almost 20,000 was inside the Stadium to see such great stalwarts of the game. Not that Malta was short of seeing such footballers
The Christmas tourney provided the occasion, year in year out, for the thousands of local football enthusiasts to watch some of the top European clubs and their players in action on that (in)famous sandy pitch which later had to become part of our football history.
The Malta-Austria match, however, was probably the first time that the local players met together in a hotel before a match to prepare seriously, even though it was a simple friendly match. And the Maltese public was eager to see how our own heroes would fare against such a top European team.
I remember the Austrians were showing obvious superiority over the boys wearing the red jersey. They led 3-0 till the 87th minute, when Tony Cauchi of Floriana managed to pull one back for Malta. Two minutes later, the Stadium exploded when Sammy Nicholl of Sliema Wanderers scored a second goal for Malta. No wonder the great ovation received by the players at the end of the match – they were shoulder-lifted to the dressing rooms by several eager fans who had made their way onto the pitch to congratulate our own heroes.
Another Floriana stalwart, right flank defender Lolly Debattista, and Valletta’s brilliant central defender Joe Cilia told me on several occasions that had there been more time left, Malta might have also snatched a draw, but by the time the two goals arrived, it was too late to stage a complete recovery.
After that match, Malta started playing quite regularly. We have had more humiliations than glory throughout these 50 years, but on the whole, while we never expected too much of our players when facing top foreign opposition, we have also relished those great moments when we registered victories against Denmark (3-0), Greece (2-0), Belgium (1-0), Estonia (0-1) and Hungary (2-1). True, they are just a handful, but there were other good results such as the draws against Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, Croatia, Norway, Portugal – it is impossible to mention all in this column. And narrow defeats against Italy, Germany England, Holland and Spain, among others. These were all occasions when our national team played its heart out providing lots of satisfaction for the football lovers.
On the other hand, there were also other occasions when we suffered humiliation, with the biggest one remaining the 12-1 massacre against Spain in 1983. That was, perhaps, our worst result in the international field and, quite unfortunately, it will remain a scar on the football family for ever!
Looking back at these 50 years, which I vividly remember, I can say that, as a journalist, I have also been provided by the MFA with the opportunity to meet and interview several famous players and coaches who graced and performed admirably at the Gzira Stadium despite all its defects and obstacles, and later the National Stadium at Ta’ Qali.
On this historic occasions, I must give my wholehearted thanks to the pioneers of Maltese football, especially those 11 who made history by being selected to play for Malta on 24 February 1957. For the record, these were the men selected by the coach, the late Joe Griffiths: Victor Scerri, Guzi Bonnici, Lolly Debattista, Ninu Calleja, Joe Cilia, Joe Cini, Lolly Borg, Salvinu Schembri, Tony Cauchi, Sammy Nicholl and Pullu Demanuele (George Jones was a substitute, replacing Ninu Calleja).
A glance back at these 50 years should fill those administrating the game now and the present national team players with a lot of encouragement. We will still suffer humiliations but it will remain such a wonderful experience to take part in the international field, whether at friendly or competitive level.
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