Valletta FC’s victory against Juventus at the Ta’ Qali national stadium on Wednesday night was the talk of the town yesterday. Perhaps we should change the phrase and say “talk of the city” today, using the word that Valletta supporters like so much to describe their hometown. After all, they are tas-City, aren’t they?
Of course, the victory has to be taken for what it is.
It was not a competitive game, and was utilised by Juventus as the last step in their build-up for the second part of the season, which starts tomorrow against Catania in Sicily, after a three-week break for Christmas.
The Juventus players have also undergone hard training sessions over the past days, a training programme that is to serve them until May. And therefore it is understandable that they approached the match with “heavy legs”. They might have also under-estimated their opponents, whereas for the Valletta players it was the game of a lifetime.
Added to this, Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri used all the players at his disposition to give everyone a chance, and this meant that the team was not in full force.
But still, Valletta’s victory after the penalty shoot stands. And it will remain one of the most remarkable feats of a local side against a top European club. It is no wonder that Valletta supporters were over the moon yesterday, and spent the whole day taking their colleagues at work – especially those who support Juventus – for a ride.
Juventus’ visit to Malta went beyond the match played on Wednesday. Just as much as last year Malta received great exposure in the Italian media when another Italian club, Milan, came over for a similar mid-season training camp, this year Malta was once again in the headlines across the whole of Italy.
Milan had beaten Birkirkara 5-0 last year, and the Malta visit was considered to have been the launching pad towards the club’s victory in the Champions League, which was followed up with the victory in the European Super Cup and the FIFA World Club Cup. Malta is still getting a lot of mention in the Milan circles, and no doubt the one that Juventus will be completing today will also reverberate for the rest of the season, whether positively or negatively.
Maltese football followers have been deprived of the presence of top clubs ever since the reform in the European club competitions meant that local clubs could only face the strongest teams if they qualify from preliminary rounds.
No Maltese club has ever made it through so far, and therefore local teams and supporters of foreign football clubs have had to wait for such occasions to experience the thrills of playing against top players or watching your idols on home soil. It was no surprise that the Ta’ Qali stadium was packed last Wednesday, because local supporters are thirsty for such occasions. It was also good to see that there were many people supporting Valletta, apart from those who chose to back their favourite foreign team.
The visit also had its benefits from the tourism point of view. The following Juventus have in Italy made sure that the Italian media gave ample coverage to their presence in Malta, and this no doubt gave a helping hand to the tourism authorities in promoting Malta in the nearby peninsula.
It was certainly more effective than any advertising campaign that the Malta Tourism Authority could have embarked upon and, more than this, it was completely free of charge.
It is occasions like this – such as football games against the more popular clubs or the hosting of concerts given by top performers – that give Malta great publicity abroad.