In a fiercely fought competition Special Olympics Gibraltar 5-a-side football team pulled off a last minute victory to claim Bronze in the Special Olympics Small Nations Football Tournament which took place in San Marino on Saturday.
Nine nations took part in the event and in the divisioning games Gibraltar played well for a resounding 5-2 win over Liechtenstein to claim a place in the top group of 4 teams, alongside Montenegro, Monaco and Liechtenstein. This followed a 3-1 defeat to Monaco in their first game, who were tough opposition for the Gibraltar lads.
In the group stage on Saturday, in a day interrupted by violent hail and thunderstorms, Gibraltar started well by beating Liechtenstein again by 2 goals to nil. There then followed a closely fought match against Monaco which was level pegging at 1-1 up until the last minute when Monaco squeezed a deciding goal to win 2-1. Gibraltar then played the strongest side in divisioning - Montenegro - for a place in the final. Despite fighting hard Gibraltar lost by 2 goals to nil, which brought them back to play Liechtenstein for the 3rd/4th place play-off. Liechtenstein were a team hungry for revenge after their previous two defeats at the hands of Gibraltar and in a cracking game full of goals Gibraltar just managed to pull off the win to claim 3rd position, with a goal from Sam Hook in the last minute, final score 3-2.
The Gibraltar squad also took part in Opening and Closing ceremonies of the games and the traditional lighting of the Olympic flame. The Games were attended by former InterMilan and Lazio midfielder Dejan Stankovic as guest of honour and delegate from UEFA. The Gibraltar team were sponsored by the GFA.
In gaining the bronze medal and trophy the team were rightly proud of their performance and pleased with the result. Of the team, Special Olympics Gibraltar National Director Annie Risso said "They have not only achieved a medal but tons of experience which will help them grow even more in their chosen sport." It was a tough competition but the Gibraltar lads once again did Gibraltar proud.
The Minister for Sport, the Hon Steven Linares and the Minister for Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento congratulated the Special Olympics Football Team for the Bronze medal success.
Minister Linares said: “Once again the Special Olympics fraternity has made Gibraltar proud. The endless of hours of training throughout the tough summer months have obviously paid off and whilst there was never any doubt that they would be great ambassadors for Gibraltar a third place finish in a high quality event is a fantastic result. I join the whole of Gibraltar in congratulating them! Well Done!”
Minister Sacramento said: “Well done to Special Olympics Gibraltar for their fantastic achievements at an international event. As always, your dedication and sportsmanship make you shining examples and representatives of Gibraltar, no matter what the results are. Congratulations on an excellent tournament.”
