OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME UEFA EURO 2020 QUALIFIER Y GROUP D Y MATCHDAY EIGHT GIBRALTAR V GEORGIA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH 2019 Y KICKXOFF 8.45PM THE ROAD TO UEFA EURO 2020 GROUP D LATEST TABLE P WDL FAGD Pts RRepublic of Ireland 53 2 0 624 11 Denmark 52 3 0 15 5 10 9 Switzerland 42 2 0 10 46 8 Georgia 51 1 3 48-4 4 Gibraltar 50 0 5 016 -16 0 62-64 Irish Town, PO Box 513, Gibraltar GX11 1AA Tel: +350 200 42941 Fax: +350 200 42211 Email: [email protected] Web: gibraltarfa.com PRESIDENT Michael Llamas VICE PRESIDENT Ian Torrilla MANAGEMENT BOARD Dennis Beiso - General Secretary Ivan Robba - Deputy General Secretary Charles Robba - Finance Director Richard Manning - Head of Administration Desi Curry - Technical Director MATCH PROGRAMME a p e publications Designed and produced by APE Publications Gibraltar’s Match Programme specialists email: [email protected] Twitter: @APEPublications Photography: Ian Martinez/ Gibraltar FA and Neil Wilson IMAGE: Ian Martinez/GFA. 05 WELCOME WELCOME DENNIS BEISO J GENERAL SECRETARY, THE GIBRALTAR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION We extend a warm welcome the Cyprus and Austria respectively. players, staT and oWcials from Domestically, the National League Georgia to Gibraltar. season is shaping up nicely, with the First Round coming to a conclusion It promises to be a tough match, but in December before we split into the once again – and with your wonderful support behind us – we Championship and Challenge are sure that the players will make Groups in January. us proud. We’ll also soon have news regarding There are now just two matches left the development of the long- for us in these European Qualifiers – awaited National Stadium as well as an away trip to Copenhagen to face the launch of our OWcial Supporters’ Denmark on November 15th before Club, so plenty to look forward to. we wrap up the campaign here at Dear Supporter, the Victoria Stadium against Welcome once again to the Victoria Switzerland three days later. All that is yet to come – but tonight Stadium and thank you for your let’s back our lads against Georgia. constant support. The months of October and Follow the Red and White! November are a very busy period for The National Team is fresh from the Thank you for your valued support... friendly match away to Kosovo in our national teams, with the Pristina and ready to take on National A Team in action four tonight’s challenge – a visit by times, our U21s hosting the DENNIS BEISO Georgia in our penultimate home Netherlands and Belarus in match as part of Group D in the November, and both our U17s and General Secretary, qualifiers for Euro 2020. U19s participating in qualifiers in Gibraltar Football Association 05 07 HEAD COACH JULIO RIBAS THE THOUGHTS OF THE HEAD COACH... WELCOME to the Victoria Stadium that is unacceptable is not giving all for for tonight’s UEFA Euro 2020 the Gibraltar shirt, flag, badge and Qualifier against Georgia. people. Anything on the pitch that doesn’t turn out exactly as we wanted It’s exactly one year on from our it to, we use as motivation for the next historic achievement in last year’s time, so we don’t make the same UEFA Nations League where we got mistake in the next game. those two massive wins over Armenia and Liechtenstein. If we fall we get up and go again. We year, the likes of Ethan Llambias, Ethan never give in learning from our It has been a year full of joy and Santos, Ayoub El Hmidi, Jaydan mistakes; that’s why we are so proud continuous growth of the GFA’s project Parody, Dylan Peacock and Michael of our players as they have become around the National Team. The wins Ruiz who have all been part of training warriors who will die for Gibraltar. came very quickly but they were squads. Their time will come! extremely welcomed. We have Tonight Georgia will be a tough developed a huge amount of young We don’t rule any player out, especially opponent; there is no doubt about talent and played the most mount of youngsters, and we watch all of them that! We have watched them and youngsters of any country in the UEFA all the time to continuously assess studied them and we have played Nations League. their development to see if they each other already, so we know a lot demonstrate the values we want in about them. The likes of Britto, Annesley, De Barr this Gibraltar Squad - passion, desire, (who was the youngest goalscorer in respect, sacrifice and hard work. We Once again our ‘Guerreros Gibraltanos’ the UEFA Nations League competition) pride ourselves in being every player’s will be up for the fight this evening in as well as others who have progressed second family to prepare them as front of our fans and together anything well on from their Under-21 learning footballers and as individuals in the is possible. curve, such as Coleing, Jolley, Olivero, way they behave oT-the-pitch. Barnett and Coombes, all of whom Thank you for your valued support. have seen time on the pitch recently. There were many positives we can Then there is the next crop of take out of the Denmark and Enjoy the game... youngsters who have joined us this Switzerland games. The only negative JULIO 07 09 ROY CHIPOLINA LET’S DO THE BUSINESS... Welcome back to the Victoria minute we ran the clock down, Stadium as our UEFA Euro 2020 frustrated them, defended as a team qualifying campaign continues with and Kyle Goldwin made every save he the visit of Georgia. needed to. We go into the game on the back of And then just three days later to come two very tough games against from behind at home to beat Denmark and Switzerland last month, Liechtenstein, wow! Winning in front with both teams in FIFA’s top 15 World of a stadium full of Gibraltarians, all rankings. wearing their red and white with pride and being part of it all with us. Ten However we can take a lot of positives years ago I could have never even from both encounters; against the showing was missing under the dreamt of such moments. Looking Danes we were extremely unlucky to previous set-ups we have had in the back it fills me with so much pride, concede two penalties. We played national team. We really feel the pride especially as Gibraltar’s captain. very well in periods of the game and of wearing the shirt and representing perhaps were unfortunate with the all Gibraltarians. Looking ahead to tonight’s game and actual scoreline (not to say that we need a good performance. If we Denmark didn’t deserve the win). And It’s also extremely positive to see how take care of that then the result will then in Sion, we thought we were many youngsters we now have in the come, I am sure. Georgia will be very holding them well until the two goals squad and getting exposed to diWcult opponents; they were a tough just before half-time knocked the International football at this level. This team when we played them in Tbilisi in stuWng out of us. bodes massively well for the future of June, but back home here at the the national team. Victoria Stadium it’s totally diTerent. Despite this we rallied at half-time and with the exception of the 87th minute Can you believe that it is now 12 We are at home, on our pitch under fourth goal that we conceded, I months since we beat Armenia and our Rock and in front of our fans. Julio thought we reacted extremely well. It’s Liechtenstein in what was such a will have us thoroughly prepared, so it these little moments and lapses of memorable and historic week for will be up to us to go out there and do concentration that really hurt you at football here in Gibraltar? the business. International level and this is what we are constantly working hard on to It was such an amazing experience; Finally I would like to thank you for all avoid. no-one expected us to get anything in your support as usual. Get behind us as Armenia. The long trip to get there, the there will be moments in the game The never-say-die attitude that Julio hostile crowd, the fact that they had when we will need your backing. We has instilled in the players and the multi-million pound footballers on the will need you to lift us and drive us squad as a whole is a massive positive. pitch. Yet Julio’s plan worked perfectly. forward and we hope to make you We are a family now and we do Lee won the penalty, Joseph was proud of your national team! everything together as a group. The never going to miss and then we passion and desire that we are defended for our lives, minute-by- ROY 09 HISTORY MAKERS Goldwin reflects on a golden week for Gibraltar football, a year on... OCTOBER 2018 will be a month that rallied the troops and with Ribas’ What followed was the longest halfX goes down in Gibraltarian footballing neverXsayXdie attitude already having anXhour in Gibraltarian football history. On paper Gibraltar’s national an eTect on Gibraltar the game began history. team were faced with two very to become more and more frustrating diTerent fixtures at opposite ends of for Armenia. It was 30 minutes of hard work, Europe in the new UEFA Nations defensive discipline, sheer League.