Focusing on Spanish immigration and listening to Spanish stories: The Spanish team defeated Malta 12-1 in 1983, making a difficult qualification for the 1984 European Championship in France. The scene of the match feels like it just happened yesterday, but in fact, it has been 30 years.
For an entire generation, December 21, 1983, is a day that will never be forgotten; everyone who watched that match can recall exactly where they were at that moment. The match remained a focal topic of conversation for many days afterward, and that year, on Christmas Eve 1983, everyone inevitably discussed one topic: the Spanish team's 12-1 victory over Malta.
It was a difficult year. An economic crisis was consuming the country's economy, racial discrimination was rampant, and fears of a coup lingered in people's minds. Additionally, a fire at the Alcalá Club on December 17 seemed to add fuel to the fire of this challenging year. However, an unexpected football match brought joy to everyone.
Thirty years later, those who experienced the match still vividly remember it. The team led by Miguel Muñoz had to win the last match against Malta by a large margin to catch up with the Netherlands and qualify for the 1984 European Championship in France.
Spain needed to win by at least 11 goals to replace the Netherlands as the group leader and advance to the European Championship, which at that time seemed an impossible task.
At halftime, Spain was leading 3-1, but disappointment filled the entire country. Spain still needed to score nine more goals to qualify, averaging one goal every five minutes. Santillana, who scored three goals, kept a glimmer of hope alive for Spain, but the final target was still far away.
The second half began, and the Benito Villamarín Stadium witnessed a miracle. Linco's two goals expanded the score to 5-1, signaling Malta's collapse, while Maceda's two goals further increased the score to 7-1. At this point, the clock showed the 63rd minute.
In the 64th minute, Linco scored his third goal of the match, and then Godíñez assisted Santillana in scoring Spain's ninth goal, bringing the score to 9-1. Linco's performance was not over yet; he then scored his fourth goal, changing the score to 10-1.
With ten minutes left in the match, Sarabia scored the tenth goal, leaving just one goal to reach the target of 11-1. The tense atmosphere in the final minutes of the match was suffocating; no one could imagine how unbearable it would be to lose by just one goal.
Then, in the 84th minute of the match, Lorde capped off the 12-1 victory, with the team's morale soaring, and there was even a possibility of scoring a thirteenth goal.
Thus, Spain, which had experienced a coup that nearly destroyed its democratic regime just two years prior and was still in the midst of economic difficulties in the early 1980s (including industrial restructuring), received an unparalleled boost in spirit. (Coincidentally, a similar situation occurred 30 years later with Vicente del Bosque's Spain.)
"Miguel, congratulations! Our country really needed such an exciting victory," said then-Prime Minister Felipe González to coach Muñoz.
Here are the memories of the protagonists of that match:
In that match, Bujó served as the goalkeeper, with three defenders: Goicoechea, captain Antonio Camacho, and Antonio Maceda. Lorde, Godíñez, and Víctor Muñoz formed the midfield, while four forwards (unheard of in the 1980s) were Sarabia, Linco, Santillana, and Carrasco. There was only one substitution in the match, with Max Alonso replacing Linco.
On November 26, at a commemorative ceremony organized by the Spanish Football Federation, the Andalusian Football Federation, and Rio Tinto Mining Council, those heroes from that year were once again honored.