The country came to a standstill on Monday night as Malta took on Italy.
Around 17,000 fans flocked to the National Stadium to witness this David-vs-Goliath duel.
Thousands more watched on their television screens.
Football is like religion in our country but for two days, everyone became a fan, expert and critic.
During a short visit to my mechanic’s garage in Qormi yesterday morning, I heard a young man saying: “Malta played very well against Italy but Maltese football will never improve.”
The man who checked my car tyre pressure was also keen to initiate a conversation about Monday’s qualifier.
“Minn fejn int sieħbi għax wiċċek mhux ġdid? (Where are you from as your face is familiar?),” he asked before adding: “Rajtha l-logħba kontra l-Italja? (Did you see the game against Italy?)”
When I replied that I did, he said that Malta had done very well, especially after they went down to 10 men following Michael Mifsud’s first-half dismissal.
A few hours later, while having lunch, Malta’s energetic display and their ‘feat’ in limiting the much-vaunted Italians to one goal dominated many a discussion.
“1-0 is quite a good result for us, better than 5-0 for sure against teams of this level,” one lady re-marked as her friends leafed through Times of Malta.
The eagerly anticipated Euro 2016 qualifier against our affluent, illustrious neighbours came and passed.
Pilloried for their timid display in the 3-0 defeat to Norway just three days earlier, the Maltese players traipsed off the pitch with the fans’ appreciative applause ringing in their ears and a visibly emotional Pietro Ghedin saluting the crowd for their support.
This is the story of our national team, an endless rollercoaster ride with many steep plunges and a few but memorable highs... a villains-to-heroes tale.
And the mixed reaction of the Maltese population over the past five days further proved that this up-and-down attitude is ingrained in our culture.
Were I surprised with Malta’s heart-on-sleeve showing on Monday?
No, just as I wasn’t really shocked by the team’s toothless display in the defeat to Norway.
I know from experience that, despite the complexities and perpetual limitations plaguing Maltese football, our players are capable of producing a disciplined performance like they did on Monday.
Yes, it’s a formidable challenge for them as it’s not easy to adjust to the tempo of international football when, week in week out, most of them are involved in slow-paced and generally low-key domestic matches.
It’s like asking a kart driver to step up into Formula One once every three months. It’s an entirely different proposition.
For a tiny footballing nation like Malta, the expectations are sometimes too high. Thinking positive and striving for improvement is one thing but being unrealistic is another.
Critics have often argued that the players, coaches and all the stakeholders in Maltese football should stop looking for excuses and take concrete action.
I firmly believe that more can be done, especially from the clubs and the players themselves, to raise the level of local football across the board, but we should never lose sight of who we are and what our limitations are.
If anything, the MFA, clubs, sponsors and critics should get together and find a way to try and ease these limitations.
Why am I saying this?
The answer lies in Malta’s display against Norway.
Ghedin, who goes about his job in a professional way, declared himself upbeat before Friday’s game and his players took to the field brimming with confidence.
There is nothing wrong with going into an international game with a positive mindset but our players were over-exuberant in their approach.
They thought that they could play at a par with Norway, who for the record beat Bulgaria 2-1 on Monday, but in taking the game to their opponents, they lost their tactical shape and discipline, conceded two quick goals from counter-attacks and the rest is history.
Even Italy coach Antonio Conte, in his pre-match news conference, expressed his surprise at Malta’s “open” approach against Norway and the fact that the team shipped in three goals from breakaways.
On Friday, Malta neglected the basics, they forgot their limitations but the story was different against Italy.
Despite the magnitude of the task in front of them, the players went into the game conscious of their limitations but determined to rise to the occasion.
Monday’s game was heavyweights against lightweights, multi-millionaires against a team made up mostly of part-timers.
Although there can be no qualms about the legitimacy of Italy’s win, despite their indifferent performance, the predicted mismatch never materialised as Malta were compact at the back, which has to be their top priority in international matches, but also tried to break forward, albeit Mifsud’s harsh dismissal forced them to all but abandon their attacking ambitions.
Next step
Where do we go from here?
While Monday was an occasion to savour, not just for the way our players applied themselves on the pitch but also for the backing of the home supporters bar a few ‘idiots’ who cheered for Italy, only the memories will remain.
Come Saturday, it will be back to the mundane reality of Premier League football and the usual scepticism.
The 17,000 who turned up for the Italy qualifier showed that the Maltese are still passionate about football. They are also still fond of the national team despite claims to the contrary while the hard-core fans will never turn their back on their clubs.
Last weekend’s derby between Ħamrun Spartans and Marsa, now both in the third tier of Maltese football, drew a big crowd to the Tedesco Stadium.
Sunday’s clash between Valletta and Birkirkara is also expected to attract a high turn-out but before we seriously address the flaws in our game, issues like the standard of coaching in youth football, clubs’ organisation, financial management, a move to a semi-professional league and the spectre of illegal betting the fans will stay away from the stadia and the status quo will persist.
The roller-coaster journey continues...
kevin.azzopardi@timesofmalta.com