See? It’s not all bad, this Nations League business
England’s goalless draw with Croatia on Friday night – played out in front of empty stands and a group of travelling supporters watching from a nearby hill – wasn’t exactly the best advertisement for the Uefa Nations League. Beyond dull, it was enough to make most of those who bothered sitting through it want to forget about the rest of this weekend’s international football.
24 hours on, a game being played on the opposite edge of the continent reminded us that Uefa’s newest international competition can mean quite a lot to some people after all.
Having only become a Uefa-affiliated team in 2013, Gibraltar had lost every single one of their qualifying matches for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. There only two victories – over Malta and Latvia – had come in friendlies.
However, taking on Armenia in Yerevan, they were able to record their first ever competitive victory courtesy of a second-half penalty from Joseph Chipolina.
Armenia, who had Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan in their side, remain above Gibraltar in group D4 but only on goal difference.
The full-time whistle was greeted with scenes of celebration from the visiting players and coaching staff, as can be seen in the videos below.
https://twitter.com/Ditvi_Na/status/1051209226104778753
Clean sheet ✅
3 points ✅
First ever points ✅That winning feeling ⚽️🇬🇮!! pic.twitter.com/yqF5e0DYLL
— Gibraltar FA (@GibraltarFA) October 13, 2018
The Armenian FA also apologised to Gibraltar after the wrong national anthem was played instead of theirs before kick-off. Instead, the anthem of Liechtenstein was mistakenly played in the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium.
