Tiny Gibraltar dreaming of Nations League glory

"It was an amazing experience but losing 8-0 is not really something to be proud of," said Gibraltar's Kyle Casciaro when asked by Britain's Daily Telegraph about his memories of playing against Germany during the 2016 European Championship qualifiers.

In fact, that match at the Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal, actually only finished 7-0 to the then-world champions but, given that Gibraltar finished the qualifying campaign with 10 defeats from 10 and a goal difference of -54, who's counting?

Gibraltar, the team from the British overseas territory with a population of just 32,000 and which was only officially recognized by UEFA in 2013, would have to wait another three years for its first competitive victory. But then last month, two came along at once.

First, a goal from left-back and vice-captain Joseph Chipolina gave the peninsula its first-ever competitive win against Armenia in Yerevan before the Gibraltarians came from behind to beat Liechtenstein 2-1 at home at the Victoria Stadium in the shadow of The Rock. 

"I'm a prison officer and when I went back to work after the match all the inmates were congratulating me as most of them watched the match," Chipolina told the Telegraph. "Apparently they all started banging on their cell doors when I scored.”

In Gibraltar, everyone knows everyone. Nine squad members are related either by blood or marriage (Chipolina's cousin Roy is the captain) and 22 play their football in Gibraltar itself, nine for the current Gibraltarian champions, the Lincoln Red Imps.

Others, such as defender Jack Sergeant and striker Jamie Coombes, play their club football abroad for exotic foreign clubs such as West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC in Manchester, England – currently fighting to stay in the ninth division.

"I train twice a week and we usually have two matches as well," Sergeant, 23, told Spiegel magazine last month. "The rest of the time, I'm at university. I play football to finance my studies."

Sergeant was part of the team that also lost 4-0 in Nuremberg in November 2014 – only the third competitive home for Germany after winning the World Cup in Brazil.

"The whole stadium was one big festival and we were right in the middle of it," he recalls. "We thought we were dreaming. I swapped shirts with Sami Khedira after the game. I like him a lot. Toni Kroos and Jerome Boateng, too."

That game was no dream but any hopes of qualification for a major tournament certainly were. That's why, despite apathy from many bigger nations, the introduction of UEFA's new Nations League has been welcomed enthusiastically by teams like Gibraltar.

"Now we play more regularly against teams who are on our level and that enables us to have some success," said Sergeant. "That's a nice feeling after all those defeats in the past."

Suddenly, with six points from four games in Group 4 of League D, this squad of part-time, semi-professional footballers has a genuine chance of promotion to League C and qualification for the playoffs, where a place at Euro 2020 would be at stake.

"It's definitely our dream," Sergeant told Britain's Independent. "Who doesn't want to compete in the Euros? Everyone's aiming for that. If we can maybe get a few wins, through a bit of hard work, dedication and even some luck you never know what can happen."

First, two more victories will be required in the upcoming games against Armenia on Friday and Macedonia on Monday.

But even if they don't manage that, they've already got a modicum of indirect revenge over the team of world champions that put 11 goals (not 12) past them in two games: So far in 2018, Gibraltar have won more competitive football matches than Germany.