Hacienda Bar managing director Nobby Vella in an Italy shirt last summer. He thinks Maltese who cheer for Italy tonight are “pitiful”.Tickets for tonight’s World Cup qualifier between Malta and Italy were selling for up to €240 on online auction sites yesterday, with football fans gripped by fervour usually reserved for major tournaments.
A rare capacity crowd of nearly 18,000 is expected inside Ta’ Qali national stadium for the 8.45pm kick off.
Tickets sold officially for between €20 and €75 by the Malta Football Association have all been snapped up, leading to a burgeoning trade in unofficial sales among fans online.
One website yesterday had two pages of listings from people either selling or requesting tickets for the big match.
One seller with tickets for €110 had sold out yesterday, with his advert receiving nearly 150 views.
Supporters were also selling or requesting tickets in fan groups on Facebook.
Ticket sales have been fuelled by the fact that many Maltese support Italian football clubs and the Italian national team during major tournaments.
However, Maltese fans of the Azzurri who spoke to The Times yesterday all said they would be casting aside their love of Italy and getting fully behind Malta for the game.
Claudio Carta, 25, from Qormi, said Italy make him cry tears of joy or despair at every World Cup and European Championship, but “first and foremost I am Maltese”.
He thinks Maltese fans who side with Italy instead of their own country are “really unpatriotic”.
“How do we expect our national team to improve if we do not support it? I would not be surprised if some Maltese people will be waving Italian flags but I will definitely not be one of them.”
Mr Carta’s love for his country also led him to make an optimistic prediction for the match between teams separated by 142 places in the Fifa world rankings: “I do want Malta to win. They played a good match in September in Italy and were unlucky (to lose 2-0).
“But I think it will be a 1-1 draw with Mario Balotelli and Michael Mifsud being the scorers.”
Christian Galea, 26, from Żebbuġ, was less optimistic about the result – predicting a 5-0 win for Italy – but he too will be supporting Malta over his beloved Azzurri.
How do we expect our national team to improve if we do not support it?
“I can understand Maltese Italy fans wanting them to win for the sake of qualification but still, it’s no excuse, we should be proud of our team no matter the result or opponent,” he said.
Hacienda Bar managing director Nobby Vella, 44, attracts a lot of Maltese Italy supporters to his bar during major championships, but he thinks those who would support the Italians instead of Malta are “pitiful”.
Mr Vella thinks the match will end 3-0 to Italy but “anything is possible in football”.
Architect Duncan Muscat, 37, celebrated all night long when Italy beat England at the European Championships last summer.
But he too will be siding with Malta tonight, and he hopes they at least score one goal.
Mr Muscat will be watching the match at the stadium with his Italy fanatic father, and both will be relaxed about cheering for their homeland as they do not think Italy will struggle to qualify from their group.
Nevertheless, he will not hold it against any Maltese fans who side with Italy during the game.
“It’s a personal choice and it’s not really anyone else’s business if you cheer for Malta or Italy,” he said.