When Malta's minnows withstood Austria's might

Malta's national team underwent its baptism of fire playing its first ever international match 50 years ago. Today's encounter at the National Stadium in Ta' Qali marks that golden moment when Malta's heroes withstood the Austrian onslaught.

"I do not usually smoke, but I got through a packet of 10 during this rip-roaring thriller. I do not usually wear a hat, but I'm going to buy one so that if I should meet any of those magnificent Malta players today, I can doff it."

This telling lead opened the report of the nail-biting battle on the Gzira Stadium's dust pitch penned by Stanley Clews for The Times of Malta on February 25, 1957.

That match was the mother of all matches, Mr Attard said.

The stadium was jam packed. The vista and atmosphere was much different from today's. The stadium was more compact in the sense that the supporters felt closer together, Mr Attard noted.

"If you entered the stadium from the enclosure side, several men would come up to you asking how you wanted to bet on the match.

"Once you placed your bet, they would go inside the latrine close by and jot down the details on a copy book. There were no mobile phones then," Mr Attard said smiling.

The Sunday treat was going to the Stadium.

As you approached the Stadium from whichever road, you came across lines of supporters walking to Gzira from Hamrun, Sliema and even from Valletta. It looked like a pilgrimage.

After the match, Mr Attard recalled, people would queue to catch a bus with the line often winding its way to Ta' Xbiex.

People would talk football for the rest of the week.

"When Salvinu Schembri, known as The Wizard of Malta, was recovering from a knee operation, hundreds of fans watched him train every day", Mr Attard said.

The Malta-Austria match that enabled the Maltese FA to join FIFA in 1959 and UEFA in 1960 was a milestone encounter for the Maltese lads.

At half-time, Malta was one goal down through an own goal by Guzi Bonnici following a misunderstanding with Joe Cilia. In the second half, the Austrians, then featuring third in the official FIFA list, netted another two goals.

The match turned around when George Jones substituted Emmanuel Calleja and Malta scored two stupendous goals, the first by Tony Cauchi and the other by Sammy Nicholl.

Wilfred Axiaq, writing about the match for the defunct Il-Berqa, said Malta should not have lost that match.

Salvinu Schembri, as the team's mentor, Sammy Nicholl, who inspired his colleagues, and Joe Cini, described as the "giant", were earmarked for a special mention by Mr Axiaq.

When I met Mr Cini I could still sense the fire in his eyes and his love for the game. Later on, he had gone for a trial with Leyton Orient and played for nine months with Queens Park Rangers in Britain.

"With the Austrians we went all out to attack. This is the only way you can handle such a team. You cannot allow them to dictate.

"The Austrian school of football was as respected as the Hungarian school," Mr Cini recalled.

Like the match with the English national team several years later, everyone had thought that being the minnows we would be thrashed, he added.

Goalkeeper Victor Scerri said when contacted that the Maltese national team barely trained together for a week and they met outside the stadium's gate just before the match.

"There was no such thing as the preparation the national squad gets these days. Goalkeepers didn't wear gloves and with the ball made of leather and fastened by a pair of laces it was difficult to know where it would end when you punched it, especially if you hit the laces," Mr Scerri recalled.

Malta had only three substitute players: Joe Bonnici, known as Il-Jummi, Tony Nicholl and George Jones. The team had no hot water in the pseudo dressing room, but the match was "an unforgettable experience", he noted.

Mr Scerri coached the national team between 1973-1974 and again from 1976-1983.

Today's match will be watched by all the players who have donned the national colours over the past half century, compliments of the Maltese FA.