Few people had heard about the Central African Republic before last Wednesday. Its national team came here for a friendly football match against Malta, which the local boys won 2-1 with two goals from Michael Mifsud.

The CAR is a landlocked country in the heart of Africa, and is one of the poorest nations in the world. The Human Development Index puts it at number 179 from a total of 182. Life expectancy at birth is 48 for women and 45 for men.

And yet their world ranking in the FIFA list is much higher than ours, as they were placed number 89 in the last standings, made available in July, while Malta was in 173rd place out of a total of 203 nations.

So Malta’s victory may serve to lift us up in the rankings when the new list is published later this month, and at the same time give us a psychological boost ahead of the European Championship qualifiers Malta will play on home soil in September.

Still, we cannot run away with our imagination, and think that last Wednesday’s victory was against some extraordinary opposition. The Central African Republic has moved up from 112th place in January to their current 89th, their best ever standing, but it must be said that in July 2009 they were in the 202nd position, one place above the bottom.

Local football followers are used to such occasional victories for Malta, but these are very few and far between. Most of our few wins have arrived in friendly matches, but we have rarely obtained points in competitive games.

Last Wednesday’s victory came at a time when local players are still building up their stamina for the current season. The game served to enhance their physical preparation and add to their experience, although one questions the choice of opponents as their style and preparation is totally different from the adversaries Malta will be meeting in September – Croatia and Georgia on 2 and 6 September respectively.

It would have perhaps been better to play against Eastern European opponents, whose style is similar to that of the Croatians and Georgians. But it is not always easy to organise friendly matches that suit the purposes of a tiny football nation such as Malta.

Then again, our standard of football is what it is and one cannot, and should not, expect miracles from the national team. It is already enough that, in recent years, our lads no longer regularly succumb to heavy defeats that shame the nation.