At the start of the 1958-59 season the MFA appointed Victor Vassallo as national team manager.
Vassallo was one of the most skilful inside-forwards ever produced by the local game.
He joined Melita FC at the age of 16 and was chosen for the first time to represent the MFA XI in 1938 against the Royal Navy at Corradino.
From then on, until he retired in 1944-45, he was an automatic choice for the national team.
Upon his appointment Vassallo embarked on an ambitious programme to improve the level of the Maltese team. Players were called for evening training sessions and trial matches were held from time to time to improve the understanding and comradeship of the players.
A programme of training was also arranged for promising youngsters with the help of Bro. Swithun who was a qualified FA coach and a lecturer at St Michael’s Training College.
In the meantime, the MFA took the initiative to arrange an international match between Malta and Switzerland B for September 20, 1958.
Preparations and training started in August.
However, the usual negotiations and disputes between the MFA and the stadium management over the new ground contract dragged on and on and the MFA had no option but to cancel the event.
When the contract dispute was finally resolved the MFA tried to arrange a full international match against Bulgaria. The MFA even went so far as to contract Maurice Alexandre Guigue, the French referee for the World Cup final in Sweden, to control the match.
Everything seemed to be set when, at the eleventh hour, the Colonial Government of Malta refused to issue permission for security reasons.
Officials from the MFA ap-proached the governor in a last-minute attempt to get his permission to stage the match but their efforts proved fruitless. It seemed that even sport had to suffer because of the volatile political situation which prevailed in Malta at that particular moment.
In the meantime, the MFA XI produced a bright display against the visiting team from Czechoslovakia, Banik Ostrava. On January 6, 1959 the national team drew 2-2 with the classy visitors.
The MFA XI played an excellent first half and they even managed to change sides with a 2-1 lead.
After the interval, however, the superior physical fitness of the Czechs began to tell. They drew level and pressed hard for the winning goal. In the end the locals were happy with a draw despite missing a late penalty.
The first ten minutes were all in favour of the Maltese and on 13 minutes Joe Cini opened the score with a powerful shot.
The Maltese continued to press for more goals and it was no surprise when Eddie Mizzi took advantage of a misunderstanding between a defender and the goalkeeper to nip in and score the second goal.
The locals tried to build up on this excellent start but Krizoli then headed into the net to cut down the deficit.
After the interval the Czechs took control of the game and Pospichal equalised.
The Czechs were now complete masters of the match. On and on they came but the Maltese defence held firm.
The visitors created a number of clear-cut chances but the best opportunity fell to Malta when, a few minutes from the end they were awarded a penalty.
Ray Edwards took the kick but his shot was well saved by Dvorak.