Mitchell Salgado could not fail to mention, in his interview with Cablenet , his debut with the Spanish National Team.
This is because his first participation with the coat of arms on his chest was on our island against our national team and it evolved … a nightmare for the new technical director of Paphos and his team.
It was the premiere of the Euro 2020 qualifiers, held on 5/9/1998 at “A. Papadopoulos “and in which Cyprus made the big surprise, prevailing with 3-2 of” fourias rochas “. Egkomitis, Gogic and Spoliaric scored for the team of Panikos Georgios, who gave our national team one of the greatest successes in its history.
Speaking about his debut, Salgado first explained how he was given the opportunity to play for the first time with his country's national team, and then stressed that he and his teammates were surprised by the physical condition of our internationals and the their courage.
Read what he said:
“It was a dream come true for me. It was after the World Cup (1998) and the team then was not very good, there was disappointment. One week before the World Cup we won the European K21 championship. It was amazing. I went to the World Cup as a spectator. I did not imagine then that I would then play with the national team and make my debut.
I was called for a second choice for the right back in the match against Cyprus. The first choice was injured in training and I made my debut. The atmosphere was not positive for the coach, the fans were constantly protesting, it gave me the opportunity to play.
It was hot and we had no official match. We were surprised by the physical condition of the Cypriots and their courage. They were fair winners, it was historic for them. I do not remember it as a good memory because we lost but it will always be in my mind because it was my debut “.
