Unlucky loss for Malta in Olympic qualifier

On Sunday December 13, 1959, Malta played Morocco at the newly-built Marcel Cedar Stadium in Casablanca. The occasion was the return match of the game played earlier in the season at the Gzira Stadium in connection with the Rome 1960 Olympics football tournament.

In those days, these fixtures were still something of a novelty, therefore the match created great interest both in Malta and in the African country.

Before the start of the game, the two teams were presented to Moroccan Crown Prince, Ali Mohammed. An avid football enthusiast, he worked hard to establish the game in his country.

In an attempt to assemble a strong team in preparation for the tournament, the Prince first signed a famous French coach and then picked the best players in the country and employed them as his personal bodyguards. Thus, under his eagle eye, he could make sure that they worked hard and prepared themselves to the hilt for their commitments in the tournament against Malta and Tunisia.

Many a time the Prince could be seen at the training ground, stop-watch in hand, exhorting his players to work harder and harder.

A week before the game, Malta had already surrendered all hopes of qualifying for the Rome Olympics when they lost to Tunisia in Tunis. However, this adverse result did not seem to dampen the spirit of the Maltese and in Casablanca they played, perhaps, the best football of the tournament.

Morocco enjoyed the best of the exchanges in the first half. They drew first blood through Mustapha Maulay after only 13 minutes but on the half hour Dalli received a pass from Chircop to equalise.

Then disaster struck the Maltese team. Only three minutes remained for half-time when Frankie Zammit passed back to goalkeeper Freddie Mizzi to clear upfield. It seemed to be quite an easy task for the young Maltese goalkeeper but Mizzi must have lost his concentration.

Somehow he stabbed his toes into the ground and the ball flew to Maulay who had no difficulty to shoot into an empty net. It was an unfortunate goal, very uncharacteristic of the great Mizzi but these things happen frequently in football.

In the second half, Malta made a great effort to save the game.

Charlie Chircop almost grabbed an equaliser and Sammy Nicholl was about to score when he was judged offside. The Maltese continued to push forward and for a while they had the Moroccans defending grimly.

Then, in a rare Moroccan counter-attack the Maltese defence panicked and the Africans were awarded a penalty. Mizzi, however, made up for his earlier lapse with a splendid save.

Mizzi's heroics seemed to inspire the team and for the rest of the game they had the Moroccans pinned in their own half. Time and again, Malta looked set to score but somehow the ball was always cleared in time.

The final whistle found the Africans still leading narrowly 2-1 but there was no glory in their victory. The Maltese won the plaudits and they fully deserved the standing ovation of the crowd as they left the ground with their heads held high.

For the record

December 13, 1959, Olympics Tournament
Marcel Cedar Stadium, Casablanca - Morocco vs Malta 2-1

Morocco: Labled, Larbi, Abdeslam, Alaoui, Mustapha, Zinaya, Mohatif, Raiss, Mustapha Maulay, Abdallah, Baba.

Malta: F. Mizzi, J. Delia, A. Gollcher, F. Zammit, Bonnett, C. Mackay, J. Cini, Alamango, Dalli, S. Nicholl, C. Chircop.

Scorers: Mustapha Maulay (2); Dalli. Referee: Senor Caballero (Spain).