| Spain v Malta (1983) | |
| Event: | UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying Group 7 Matchday 8 |
| Team1: | Spain |
| Team1score: | 12 |
| Team2: | Malta |
| Team2score: | 1 |
| Details: | Spain qualified for UEFA Euro 1984 |
| Stadium: | Estadio Benito Villamarín |
| City: | Seville |
| Referee: | Erkan Göksel (Turkey) |
| Attendance: | 18,871 |
On 21 December 1983, Spain played Malta in the last qualification match for UEFA Euro 1984. Needing a victory by no less than 11 goals to qualify, Spain won the match 12–1. The game is often described as one of the most important in the Spanish national team's history.[1]
With only the group winner getting a spot in the finals, the Netherlands had defeated Malta 5–0 four days before, and had finished their qualification schedule on top of the group with 13 points and a goal difference of +16.
If Spain won their final qualifier and thus also finished on 13 points, goal difference would decide the group winner. Spain's goal difference was +5 before the match; if it also reached +16, then the total number of goals scored by Spain would surpass that of the Netherlands, putting Spain ahead. Therefore, the team needed a win by a margin of 11 or more goals.
Spain had only managed to score 12 goals in their seven matches in the group until then. Before the game the Maltese goalkeeper John Bonello said: "I wouldn't return to my country if they scored 11 goals."[2]
Going into the match, the Group 7 table stood as follows:
Spain's only chance of qualifying for Euro 1984 was to defeat Malta by at least 11 goals.In the second minute of the match, Spain were awarded a penalty kick after a foul on Francisco José Carrasco inside the box. However, Juan Antonio Señor subsequently missed the penalty in the fourth minute after the shot deflected back off the left post and was cleared by a Maltese defender for a corner. After Santillana opened the scoring for Spain in the 15th minute, Malta's Michael Degiorgio levelled the score 1–1 in the 24th minute.[3] [4]
When half-time came and the scoreline was 3–1 to Spain, few expected them to score enough goals to qualify. However, Juan Antonio Señor, who had missed the early penalty, scored Spain's 12th and last goal in the 88th minute; Rafael Gordillo nearly scored a 13th in the final minutes of the game but it was disallowed by the referee. That did not matter, however, as the Spaniards won by the 11-goal margin required for them to beat the Netherlands to qualification.[5]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant referees: Yahya Diker (Turkey) Özcan Oal (Turkey) | Match rules
|
The match was broadcast by RTVE in Spain. Afterwards, in Malta, many claimed that the Maltese were paid to not play their best and to let Spain win by a large margin, and it was rumoured that words had been exchanged between Maltese and Spanish officials and players at half-time. In March 2018, two Maltese players, Silvio Demanuele and Carmel Busuttil, claimed that Spain had been using doping as "they had foam in their mouths and could not stop drinking water". They also claim the Maltese players were drugged via lemon wedges during halftime.[6] However, as of 2018, no evidence has come forth to support these allegations.[7]
The Malta Football Association launched an inquiry into the result, and its chairman George Abela (later the President of Malta) brought about changes to the national team. Abela said that a lack of facilities meant that the team lacked serious professional preparation for a tournament such as the European Championships, and the closeness of away fixtures (Malta had played in the Netherlands only four days before their 12–1 loss in Seville) was a further hindrance and such scheduling would be avoided in future.
Spain and the Netherlands finished the qualification stage level on 13 points, level on goal difference, but Spain qualified on goals scored (24, compared to 22 for the Netherlands).