On a night when most Portuguese were glued to TV sets watching Cristiano Ronaldo destroy Sweden, several hundred fans witnessed Gibraltar mark their debut as a UEFA member by holding Slovakia to a goalless draw at the Algarve Stadium in Faro.
The British colony was accepted by European football’s governing body in May, becoming its 54th and smallest member. The Algarve Stadium will be Gibraltar’s home for their Euro 2016 qualifying games, which get under way next year, because their own ground on ‘The Rock’ does not meet UEFA requirements for competitive fixtures.
They can play friendlies in Gibraltar but opted to play in Portugal as preparation for the qualifiers. Most of their squad are amateurs from Gibraltar’s domestic league but they featured a handful of professional and semi-professional players. Those included Barnsley’s Scott Wiseman and former Manchester United defender Danny
Higginbotham, who now plays for non-league Chester City and was making his international debut at the age of 34. Prior to joining UEFA Gibraltar played against the likes of Greenland and the Isle of Wight, with their biggest victory a 19-0 win against Sark of the Channel Islands.
Slovakia, despite missing several first-team players, provided a much sterner test having recently won 2-0 in Poland. Gibraltar rarely threatened with Adam Priestley, a
striker who plays for non-league Farsley AFC (Leeds, England) having their best effort in the tenth minute with a deflected cross that flew into the hands of Slovakia goalkeeper Tomas Kosicky.
Slovakia, meanwhile, found themselves repeatedly frustrated by the Gibraltar defence – led by man-of-the-match Higginbotham – and their best chance came in stoppage
time when a corner hit the bar. The draw for the Euro 2016 qualifiers will be held in February.
