The big day has arrived. This evening, tiny Malta will be facing mighty Spain at Ta' Qali National Stadium in a David v Goliath encounter. Kick-off 8.45pm.
It is a match which makes one remember the record 12-1 defeat suffered by Malta in Sevilla way back in December 1983.
That was the day when Malta suffered its biggest humiliation in sport. And it was so bad that it is impossible for all those who are still alive to forget all about it.
Yet, national coach Ray Farrugia, who was one of the players in the Malta line-up, said yesterday with insistence that the Seville match was a thing of the past. "For me it is the future of the Maltese national team that is important. I do not even remember the names of the players who were in that Spanish team. What I am concerned with at the moment is this match and nothing else," he insistently told Spanish reporters attending a press conference. Some of them had asked whether he thought that the Sevilla match might not have been clean.
Farrugia said Malta today will be playing against one of the best, if not the best teams in the world. "We all know the quality players they have in their squad. They are all world class and I have no doubt that it will be a very difficult match for us.
"I admire Spanish football and the way they play it. Let us not forget that the country has produced three world class coaches in Pep Guardiola, Vicente del Bosque and Luis Enrique.
"However, we are now concentrating on this game and I must say we have prepared quite well for it. We are aware of the very strong opposition we will be facing and we also are handicapped with the absence of the suspended Andrei Agius. We will be missing him no doubt, but another player (probably Ryan Darmanin or Zac Muscat) will be there," he added.
Farrugia said he might be making a few (possibly two) changes, apart from Agius, from last Saturday's starting line-up. "But decisions will only be taken on Tuesday morning after the training session," he said.
The national coach said last Saturday's victory against the Faroe Islands provided a big boost for Maltese football. "We now expect a full house to fully support the local boys once again as those present did last Saturday.
"That victory confirmed that the introduction of youngsters in our side was the right decision. We will continue to show confidence in the abilities of these youngsters. We will continue building on last Saturday's win. That is the only way forward. We will suffer now, but will gain later," he reiterated.
Farrugia said apart from Agius, two other players - one of them Rowen Muscat - received slight knocks on Saturday and are still recovering. But he hoped they will be declared fit to play by this morning.
The coach said the squad had watched Spain's 2-1 win against Norway last Saturday three times. "We could all see that Spain has strength in depth. But we are not afraid to face such a top class team," he said.
Tickets sold out
The Malta Football Association yesterday announced that all the tickets allocated for home supporters for the match between Malta and Spain have been sold.
The last available tickets, for the North Stand, were sold yesterday afternoon while tickets for the other three sectors - Millennium, West Stand C and South Stand - sold out last week.
No tickets will be available for sale from the National Stadium today.
The stadium gates open at 6.45pm.
Indicative signage and stadium stewards will be on site on matchday to provide directions to those attending the match.