427. Malta national team hits world headlines

It is not often that Maltese football hits the world headlines. In the past the hard pitch of the Gzira Stadium used to make sporting news quite regularly though. This was especially so when the locals played a particularly good game and earned a prestigious result.

Our illustrious opponents were always quick to blame their shortcomings on the notorious sandy pitch of the old stadium. All this, however, changed when the National Stadium was opened at Ta' Qali.

With the grass pitch of the new stadium we kissed goodbye all our advantages when playing against the foreigners. There were no excuses now when the Maltese occasionally rose to the occasion to bite the flank of their more quoted opponents.

One particularly good example was on Monday, March 29, 1987, when Malta's national team hit the world headlines with an unexpected 2-2 draw against Portugal in Funchal on the touristic island of Madeira.

It was Malta's most impressive performance away from home and it was the first away point won in the European Championship. Malta could even have won the game when, with only 14 minutes left for play, they were leading by two goals to one.

Luckily for Portugal, Jorge Placido scored the equaliser to save his country from further miseries.

This was certainly one of the biggest upsets in European football. Tiny Malta, considered as the punch bag of Europe, celebrated their first point in 15 years of competition.

This unexpected success filled the Maltese with confidence and they went to Neuchatel in Switzerland hoping for another positive result.

The Maltese were pressed hard in the first half when the eager Swiss players scored four goals.

In the second period, the Maltese team improved considerably. They prevented their opponents from scoring more goals and scored one themselves, once again from Carmel Busuttil.

Malta concluded its commitments for the season with another fine outing against Sweden in Gothenburg. Following Malta's impressive performance in Portugal, Sweden treated Malta with more respect. They feared another upset, but when Johnny Ekstroem opened the score after only four minutes, it seemed as if Malta was in for another hiding.

The Maltese, however, kept their cool and continued to play to their defensive plan. Sticking to a zonal-marking plan, they prevented the Swedes from scoring more goals and created a couple of scoring chances.

Towards the end, the Scandinavians increased the pressure but the Maltese were equal to every Swedish attempt to beat them. The final whistle saw the Maltese elated by the result and the Swedes booed by their own supporters.