On 21 December 1983,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

played

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in the last qualifying match for

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

. The game is often described as one of the most important in Spain's national football team's history.

Background

Four days before the game,

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

defeated

5–0 and finished their qualification schedule with 13 points and a

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

of +16. If Spain won their final qualifier and thus also finished on 13 points, then goal difference would decide which team qualified. With a goal difference of +5, Spain would need to defeat Malta by a margin of at least 11 goals. If they scored 11 goals then the total goals scored by them would surpass Netherlands' goals scored and thus qualify. The team had only managed to score 12 goals in their previous seven matches, and before the game the Maltese goalkeeper, John Bonello, said: "I wouldn't return to my country if they scored 11 goals." After 17 December, and before Spain's match against Malta, the group 7 table stood as follows:

Match

Summary

's only chance of qualifying for Euro 1984 was to defeat

by at least 11 goals. In the second minute of the match, Spain were awarded a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

after a foul on

Francisco José Carrasco Francisco José Carrasco Hidalgo (born 6 March 1959) is a Spanish retired football player and manager. Nicknamed Lobo, he played as a winger spending most of his 14-year professional career with Barcelona (11 seasons). He won ten major title ...

inside the box. However,

Juan Antonio Señor ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

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 Michael Degiorgio (born 15 November 1962) is a Maltese former professional footballer. Degiorgio played as a midfielder until the end of his career, when he switched to a central defender. Degiorgio started his career with Hamrun Spartans and ...

levelled the score 1–1 in the 24th minute. When half-time came and the scoreline was 3–1 to Spain, few expected them to score enough goals to qualify. However,

, who had missed the early penalty, scored Spain's 12th and last goal in the 88th minute;

Rafael Gordillo Rafael Gordillo Vázquez (born 24 February 1957) is a Spanish retired footballer. A tremendously attacking left wing-back, equally at ease as defender and midfielder and with a good effort rate, he had an unmistakable style of playing with his ...

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.

Details

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:50 PlotArea = left:15 bottom:10 top:10 right:15 Period = from:0 till:90 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Colors = id:SPA value:red id:MAL value:gray(0.5) id:lightgreen value:rgb(0.6,1,0.6) BackgroundColors = canvas:lightgreen LineData = from:0 till:90 atpos:25 color:black at:15 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:24 frompos:10 tillpos:20 color:MAL at:26 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:28 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:45 frompos:0 tillpos:50 color:blue at:46 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:55 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:60 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:62 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:63 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:75 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:78 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:79 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA at:84 frompos:30 tillpos:40 color:SPA

Aftermath

The match was broadcast by

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

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 Carmel Busuttil (born 29 February 1964), nicknamed "Il-Bużu", is a Maltese former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best Maltese players of all time, he began his career with his hometown club Rabat Ajax ...

, 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. However, as of 2018, no evidence has come forth to support these allegations. The

Malta Football Association The Malta Football Association (MFA; mt, Assoċjazzjoni tal-Futbol ta' Malta) is the governing body of football in Malta. The Association organises the Maltese Football League and several other competitions, including a knockout competition ...

launched an inquiry into the result, and its chairman

George Abela George Abela, (born 22 April 1948) is a Maltese politician who was the eighth president of Malta from April 2009 to April 2014. Early life Abela was born in Qormi, Malta, to George and Ludgarda (née Debono) Abela. He attended the local primar ...

(later the

President of Malta The president of Malta ( mt, President ta' Malta) is the constitutional head of state of Malta. The President is indirectly elected by the House of Representatives of Malta, which appoints the president for a five-year term and requires them to ...

) 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.

Final table

Spain and the Netherlands finished the qualification stage level on 13 points, level on

, but Spain qualified on goals scored (24, compared to 22 for the Netherlands).

Records

*The match produced the second-largest win in

's history (the largest was 13–0 against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

in 1933), and

's largest loss. *The four goals scored by Santillana put him as the top goalscorer in qualifying group 7.

References

External links

Integral video of the game 'ESP 12–1 MLT'
rtve.es {{DEFAULTSORT:Spain 12-1 Malta UEFA European Championship matches UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

December 1983 sports events in Europe Sports competitions in Seville 20th century in Seville Malta–Spain relations