In April 1972, Lino Bugeja was appointed coach of the Malta U-18 team which was due to take part in the UEFA Youth Championship in Barcelona that same season.
Such event was still a novelty in those days. This was not the first tournament in which the U-18 team was taking part but it was still a new experience.
Bugeja is one of the few all-rounders in our sport. He can be described as a footballer, track and field athlete, coach, administrator, historian, lecturer and journalist.
Indeed, it was a fitting gesture last year when he was inducted in the MOC Hall of Fame.
Bugeja always took his commitments seriously. There was little time available for him, however, when appointed U-18 coach to prepare the team for Barcelona '72.
So, he immersed himself in his job and prepared an intensive training programme for his squad.
Training sessions were held at Marsa and during the build-up some trial matches were played against the MFA XI and other leading clubs.
The aim was to pep up the youths' stamina against bigger and stronger opponents.
The group left Malta on May 11, 1972 and two days later played Italy in the first match of their group at the Espanyol ground.
On a very rainy day, the Italians settled down quickly and after 10 minutes they were already leading 1-0. This goal seemed to shake up the Maltese and for the rest of the first half they shared play with their opponents.
Malta U-18 ventured forward in attack and before half-time they were justly rewarded for their efforts when Edward Gatt scored a gem of a goal, later described by the Spanish media as the best of the tournament.
Bugeja's boys started the second half on the same positive note but Gatt's goal ruffled the Italians and they started to play aggressively.
Gatt and George Xuereb got injured in the proceedings. Taking advantage of a heavily-weakened team, the Italians scored four goals in succession for a 5-1 victory. It was, however, a very harsh result on the Maltese.
Two days later, Malta U-18 lost 0-3 to Romania at the San Andros ground.
For long stretches, Malta shared the exchanges with their opponents but a couple of unfortunate mistakes by goalkeeper Cortis paved the way for the East Europeans' victory.
Malta U-18 played their third and final game of the tournament against hosts Spain on May 17, at Tarragona. Spain required a big victory to top the group.
Knowing this, Bugeja opted for a more prudent approach. This was probably his downfall because the team had enough talent to play a more constructive game but one, perhaps, could not really blame the coach.
The Spaniards were the best side of the competition and no-one expected a modest team like Malta to attack the giants of the European game on their own soil.
As it was, the Spaniards were allowed to dictate the run of play and this gave them confidence to score the goals they needed.
Spain beat Malta 6-0 to win the tournament.