Nov 20 - Success For GFA in First UEFA Friendly
With chants of the 500 strong gathering of GFA fans, and local supporters filling the Estadio do Algarve in Portugal’s Faro, the team played strong defence in their first ever UEFA Friendly against Slovakia, last night.
With a final score of 0 – 0, GFA head coach told local and International Media that it was a dream come true and a dream start for the team. He added, ‘we were just hoping for the counter-attack and that is the game we played. [Slovakia] are very high in the ranking and to come here and get a draw is a dream come true.’
Playing with the team for the first time was former Manchester United Premiership League player Danny Higginbotham, making his International debut at 34 years of age. Following the match Higginbotham took to Twitter to express how pleased he was with the result, stating, ‘thanks for all the messages. What an amazing result for everyone connected with Gibraltar. Players were outstanding.’
Ranked 27th in Europe, Slovakia proved a challenging opponent, making several attempts to score. GFA Goal Keeper Jordan Perez defended his goal spectacularly throughout the match.
The game was followed closely by a gamut of international media, with stories today released by Yahoo Sport, BBC and the Daily Mail among others. The next challenge for the Gibraltar team will be another set of friendlies in March, preparing the squad for the European Qualifiers in 2016.
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo expressed how proud he was with the team’s performance, writing on Twitter, ‘after their first 90mins of international football the GFA is UNBEATEN! #proudofGFA.’
Team Captain Roy Chipolina today thanked Gibraltar for their support. He went on to comment on last night’s ‘great team performance’.
