Gibraltar show offensive game plan in draw against São Tomé and Príncipe

Gibraltar 0-0 São Tomé and Príncipe

With Gibraltar playing a crucial Nations League match on Sunday, there was no surprise that some of the first eleven were not quite as expected.

Scott Wiseman might have said prior to the match that the “expectation was to win the game, nothing more, nothing less.” However, an international friendly against a relatively unknown opponent was a chance to test and rotate his squad.

The inclusion of the likes of Mason, McCafferty, Bartolo and Stevens might have surprised many. Even the presence of Jolley, who had not played many minutes, might have raised some eyebrows.

Gibraltar was nevertheless not undermining the importance of the international friendly. It was ensuring its players were tested on the field and challenged.

The likes of Torrilla, Bent and De Barr starting on the bench, with Valarino taking the captain’s armband in what was a first for the player, was another indication of the changes being made.

It was somewhat of a strange sight to see the Gibraltar team warming up while, by the centre circle, watching and observing were two former Gibraltar internationals. Roy Chipolina and Lee Casciaro, now both part of the national team technical squad and retired from international football.

Their presence highlighted the steep transition Gibraltar football had taken during the past decade. The last of the national team players to have transitioned from senior amateur football into the professional era of Gibraltar football had already given way to the next generation of players.

The squad, with an average age well below 25, was one building for the next decade. The reins had also been handed on a permanent basis to a former national team player who had experience during Gibraltar’s time within UEFA.

The building blocks and foundation were now starting to emerge.

Playing against São Tomé and Príncipe, a relatively unknown side for European football observers coming from the African Confederation, was also a time when Gibraltar was starting to find its feet within its own level of the game.

The Nations League had already brought some semblance of realistic competitive matches at their level, from which they could build and progress. FIFA’s new policy to introduce a more forceful way of getting teams from different confederations at similar levels playing each other had already seen Gibraltar play against the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, and win.

The test was, however, to be faced on the field, and any belief that São Tomé and Príncipe were just on a jolly would soon have to be reconsidered.

An athletic, physically fit side looked more than focused to take on the challenge and make their debut against a European side a memorable one.

The age of football as amateurs facing amateurs had long gone. No clearer way to see it than the many young children standing by the entrance to the changing rooms, screaming for their T-shirts to be signed.

Gibraltar still had some way to go to embrace the wider changes. Fans were still not filling the stadium for these types of matches, and certainly not arriving early to pass through the security checks preventing illicit items entering the terraces.

After all the fanfare of flag bearers and national anthems, it was back to the business of the day.

From the start, it was a hard press from São Tomé, giving Gibraltar no time to settle. Within a minute, Gibraltar gave away a dangerous free kick at the top of the box, the shot breezing past the post, away from Banda’s reach.

Gibraltar soon found their rhythm and settled into a passing game, a total contrast to the visitors’ urgency.

Bartolo, after five minutes, found space down the right and gifted Mason with a pass into space, which saw a rocket strike whizz just past the wrong side of the post.

This was the first match for Gibraltar for youngster Scanlon since he recently moved to Arsenal. Little had been lost as he linked up with Pozo, Mauro and Valarino.

Gibraltar were offering two very offensively minded flanks and again placing their trust in the quality of their defenders without overloading at the back.

As the minutes ticked on, Gibraltar stemmed the visitors’ urgency and were stamping their mark.

Jolley, in the 13th minute, sent a floated cross which was met by Gomez with a header, ending in the keeper’s arms. São Tomé were to put the ball in the back of the net moments later, but the goal was disallowed for a foul.

Slowly, Gibraltar were getting closer. Bartolo chased a lobbed pass in the 16th minute and, chipping the keeper, was unable to get a final touch to direct it towards goal.

Tensions then spiked when Gomez was manhandled to the ground and Valarino was lunged at. Pozo was unhappy with the challenges, facing off with the opponents.

Finding spaces between the defence and midfield, Gibraltar were starting to expose the gaps but were yet to find that finishing touch.

The visitors were nevertheless finding their way forward as the half progressed. Bartolo came close to breaking the deadlock, getting to the ball before the keeper but finding himself too far to the right, while a desperate last-moment lunge by a defender denied him a goal.

If Gibraltar needed reminding of São Tomé and Príncipe’s threat, they were to get it moments later as a quick break saw a floated cross into the goalmouth, the subsequent header going just over Banda’s crossbar.

Gibraltar found itself defending deep for the first time, with Banda forced to make what was his first save as the ball drifted towards his top corner.

The fans were happy to see the first half end when Gibraltar seemed to momentarily lose its place on the field after a confident first half, missing only that breakthrough to tear open the deadlock.

Wiseman was to make changes at half-time, with Hankins, Richards, Ronan, Bent, Jessop and Pons entering, while Banda, Lopes, Valarino, Scanlon, Mason and Pozo were withdrawn.

The deliberate change in personnel was itself a major challenge, testing Gibraltar’s capability to respond to changes and still keep its momentum.

With the same confidence shown in the first half, Gibraltar responded, settling down fast and maintaining an offensive momentum.

A mistake at the back in the 51st minute while trying to play from deep sent a scare as the visitors gained possession, with some solid defending from McCafferty denying them a goal.

Fifty-capped Ronan was to win a free kick in a dangerous zone on the 57th. The delivery from Richards crashed into the crossbar as Gibraltar turned the tables and sent their own warning shot.

Torrilla, De Haro, Borge and De Barr were to come on in the 69th minute, with McCafferty the only player remaining from the first eleven.

The momentum was to change, with Gibraltar immediately controlling possession. The presence of De Barr added an immediate threat, with Torrilla taking up the captain’s armband. An injection of additional experience, added confidence and aggression delivered an immediate change in momentum.

Jessop and Borge alongside De Barr’s style of attacking players and taking them on was causing São Tomé to defend deep, with physicality a central key.

Yet they were still compact enough and resilient enough not to allow the breakthrough moment as the minutes ticked away.

Gibraltar met the visitors’ physicality head-on. Torrilla brushed aside a challenge and unleashed a shot that went wide on the 73rd.

Moments later, Pons was released by De Barr, who received again at the top of the box and, running in to collect, was to be met by a 50-50 with the keeper.

De Barr was able to continue after rubbing away the pain, but the visiting keeper was stretchered off, coming away the worse from the challenge. His intervention had denied De Barr what looked like a chance to break the deadlock.

Gibraltar searched for a breakthrough, but so did the visitors, who took every chance to run at the Gibraltar defence.

De Haro nearly found Jessop on the 87th, the substitute keeper coming out well to intercept a long cross-field ball. It was De Barr next, running at the defence and then opening to Richards, whose shot was parried and pushed away to safety.

Six minutes of injury time were given, during which Gibraltar pressed high looking for that elusive goal.

Whilst the goal was not to come, there was one obvious fact that had emerged. This was far removed from the Gibraltar defensive-wall game plan of the past.

A confident, energetic Gibraltar side had searched for the goal and not found it. They had relied on a back four and their quality and experience, and had attacked their opponents.

The result, although not the one anyone would have wanted, was a positive. A draw against a team ranked higher than themselves, adding to the FIFA rating.

Gibraltar celebrated the Under 15s success at halftime, yet the international friendly was a total celebration of the youth progress in the sport overall.

However, as one observer put it, “this was a ranking match”, where Gibraltar was playing at a level akin to the days before UEFA membership which saw Gibraltar play at Island Games level. The likes of Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and now São Tomé and Príncipe are teams Gibraltar are expected to be at a par with if it is to stand its ground at international level.