Updated 2.40pm with video

Ayrton Curmi remembers the final moments of the 2006 football World Cup final like it was yesterday.

“Fabio Grosso looked straight at the goal before taking a long run-up for the final penalty kick, Barthez went the wrong way and Italy were champions,” Curmi recalls.

Now 29, the young Curmi had joined much of Malta in celebrating Italy's first World Cup win since 1982.

Italian manager Roberto Mancini jogging on the Sliema front on Saturday.

Still, as Italy face Malta on Sunday evening in a Euro 2024 qualifier, Curmi knows which side he is on.

“I follow the Italian national team in a lot of games, but this does not change the fact that I'm Maltese. On Sunday I will be 100 per cent behind Malta,” he said.

Like many “Juventini”, Curmi's sympathies for the Italian national team have been tempered this year following the Italian FA’s decision to deduct 15 points from Juventus’ Serie A season.

It is a familiar sentiment among local Juventus and Italy supporters. 

Lee Cuschieri said that Juventus' points deduction saga incident has made it easier for him to get behind his national team. 

"I’m proud to be Maltese and would have supported Malta, but now even more so,” the 24-year-old said. 

Midfielder Nicolo Barella runs with the ball during Italy's match versus England this week. Photo: AFP

The 16,000 seats available at Ta' Qali stadium for the game have all been taken, with tickets selling for up to €70 at the west stand and €35 at the Millennium Stand.

Cheaper €20 tickets at the stadium’s south end have been sold out since January, South End Core (S.E.C) head Dillon Mercieca said.

The S.E.C will be making sure that the south end’s 4,000 fans provide a lively atmosphere at the match and encouragement to the Maltese players as they face the reigning European champions. 

“There will be a pre-game choreography and a large banner will curtain the stand,” Mercieca said. “Everyone in the south stand will be involved." 

Those who did not get a ticket can still enjoy a family-friendly atmosphere inside a dedicated fan zone in Ta' Qali national park, Mercieca said.

Dedicated supporters of the national team have been heartened in recent years by an uptick in interest from locals. 

“Even for away games, 100 Maltese supporters travelled to San Marino, and 70 went to Estonia,” Mercieca noted.   

Still, Mercieca said that some Maltese will be supporting the Italian team instead of their own country.

“We still suffer from a colonial mentality,” he said.

Those torn loyalties reflect Malta's peculiar football heritage, with much of the country supporting either Italy or England and feeling a strong rivalry towards the other. 

The roots of this rivalry can be traced back to Malta's colonial history, which saw rulers from both the Italian peninsula and British isles take control of the country. 

When Malta became a British colony, the presence of Italian culture and language remained strong. The Italian language was the official language in Malta for about four centuries – until the British took control and forced a switch exclusively to English.

As the years passed, Malta’s political landscape evolved to the one we recall in recent history. Many employed with the British services or the drydocks anglophiles were anglophiles while others resented forced Anglicisation.

“People still feel that rivalry even though the younger generation does not recall where it started from and its deep historical roots,” Frendo had told Times of Malta before Euro 2020 final in 2021.

Francesco Marra, 25 and from Rome, knows where his loyalties lay. Despite having lived in Malta for 16 years and describing the island as his home, Marra does not feel conflicted about supporting Italy come Sunday.

The different quality levels of the two teams - Italy is ranked 8th worldwide while Malta is 167th - means that he does not expect a competitive game. 

“I don't really feel it as a proper game, it will be more like a friendly,” he said.