'Mario Gotze wanted my shirt' – little Gibraltar think big after brush with champions
One minute before half-time in Germany’s fourth game of Euro 2016 qualifying the world’s best goalkeeper made a brilliant save to deny Gibraltar’s Liam Walker a spectacular goal.
It was a superb, quick-thinking effort by Walker, the only full-timer in the Gibraltar League. He hit a high, swerving left-foot half-volley on the run from 30 yards out. World Cup winner Manuel Neuer, who came third in the Fifa Ballon d’Or in January, just about scrambled it away for a corner.
Mario Gotze, scorer of the deciding goal in the World Cup final, was so impressed by the Lincoln Red Imps attacking midfielder that he swapped shirts with Walker – at half-time.
“He must have liked it,” Walker told
Goal at a club training session in Gibraltar before the national team started preparations for their next qualifier in Scotland on Sunday. “He told one of the team assistants outside the dressing room that he wanted to swap shirts, so I got Gotze’s at half-time and Karim Bellarabi’s at the end.
“The shot was a highlight, because Neuer only just stopped it and he was voted third best player in the world last year. But my best memory was the experience of just being in Nuremburg for that game, from the moment we were standing in the tunnel alongside the best team in the world.”
His team-mates all agree, even though they lost 4-0. Forward Kyle Casciaro has several pictures of the stadium and crowd on his phone and used one to explain the impact that night had on him.
“Look at that,” he said, pointing out a shot of the German fans spelling out the word ‘Mannschaft’ as the teams walked out. “We waited a long time for the chance to play games like this. It was unbelievable.”
Two of Kyle’s brothers and fellow internationals, Lee and Ryan, also play for Lincoln Red Imps, a local side who provide 13 of the 23-man national squad. “There were 40,000 fans at that game,” said Ryan. “We usually get one or two hundred for a club game here.”
He was right. The next day Lincoln Red Imps took on Lynx, first against third in the local league. The crowd was 181, none of whom paid (admission is free). There is little or no money in Gibraltar football, which is why their acceptance as Uefa’s newest members in 2013 should be a game-changer.
Money for the national team will go towards a long-term plan for better facilities and player development, and the clubs benefit as two of them enter the preliminary rounds – and guaranteed prize money – in the Champions League and Europa League.
Twenty of the 23-man squad for the Scotland game are part-timers. Walker, who played a season at Portsmouth in England’s League One after impressing against them in a friendly, earns the same as a Spanish league lower division player.
The ‘stars’ are Preston North End defender Scott Wiseman and Bristol Rovers winger Jake Gosling, both of whom are on course for promotion this season. Two others are based in England – Dave Artell, who is a coach at Crewe and a part-time player in the Welsh League, and Adam Priestley, a free-scoring forward for Farsley AFC in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier.
Priestley, a teacher, played against Prescot Cables (attendance 129) last November and the next weekend he was sent on from the bench to mark Gotze at a free kick. His favourite memory to date was dispossessing Robert Lewandowski in the 7-0 defeat by Poland. Priestly has scored 20 for Farsley this season but has not had a single chance for Gibraltar, who have scored none and conceded 21 in their four games.
What, you might think, are this bunch of clerks, military police, shipping agents, firemen and teachers doing in the Euros? They are in because their repeated attempts to gain membership were approved by Uefa in 2013 and now they are trying to persuade Fifa of their eligibility. Their case will be heard in May by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but may take months to resolve.“We will seek special dispensation to play in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup,” said Dennis Beiso, chief executive of the Gibraltar FA.
There are many who believe that the likes of San Marino, Liechtenstein and Andorra already do enough damage to qualifying series, without the addition of another no-hoper. What does Beiso think?
“We subscribe to the Fifa view of universality, that everyone in football is seen as equal in their structure,” he told Goal. “It’s an unbelievable honour for us to be here, but we are very strong in some respects. We are the fifth oldest football association in the world [founded in 1895].“More than 10 per cent of the population here is involved in football as a player, referee, coach or helper.”
The biggest problem for Beiso and his organisation is that 2,650 registered players have only one full-size pitch, an artificial surface at Victoria Stadium. Land is scarce, especially flat land, and the clubs have to cross the border to Spain to train.
The stadium, capacity 2,400, is inadequate for hosting Uefa international matches. Because of political differences the GFA cannot ask Spanish clubs to host them so they travel to Faro, in Portugal, for home games. London is the more likely venue next time they enter a competitive tournament.
The planned new stadium at Europa Point – which would have views across the sea of Africa - has been delayed by hold-ups in the planning process.
The more immediate target is to score their first competitive goal. “We’re ambitious but realistic,” Priestley told Goal. “That first goal in qualifying is quite a target because when it comes, and whoever scores it, it’s going to go down in Gibraltar football history.”If Walker finds himself in range, watch out Scotland.
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