Rock solid: Gibraltar hold Slovakia to a goalless draw in their UEFA debut match



Tiny Gibraltar earned a surprising 0-0 draw with Slovakia on Tuesday in the British colony's first match as a fully recognised senior international team.



The result is all the more incredible considering the team recruited players using the social networking site Twitter which enabled them to snap up former Stoke City defender Danny Higginbotham who is the nephew of Gibraltar's coach Allen Bula.



The friendly was played at the Estadio do Algarve in Portugal while Gibraltar's own stadium undergoes renovations to meet UEFA standards.



VIDEO Scroll down to watch Bring on England says Gibraltar coach



Debut boys: Gibraltar made its debut against Slovakia after overcoming Spanish opposition to become UEFA's 54th full member - and its smallest one in May.

Big game: Danny Higginbotham made his international debut at the age of 34 for Gibraltar who he is eligible to play for courtesy of his grandmother

Moment to treasure: Gibraltar's players celebrate their draw with Slovakia at the Algarve stadium in Portugal

Championship performer: Scott Wiseman (left) was born in England where he plays for Barnsley but his mother was born in Gibraltar which led to his first international cap

A few hundred fans, including Gibraltar first minister Fabian Picardo, made the four-hour drive from the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula to support their side and then celebrate the unexpected result.



The venue, which had the capacity to hold the near 30,000 inhabitants of Gibraltar, was otherwise empty.



But it mattered little to the Gibraltar supporters and players, who lingered on the pitch to savor the draw after the final whistle.



Despite missing several first-choice players, Slovakia were expected win comfortably especially after winning 2-0 in Poland last week.

But the side ranked 65th in the world and 27th in Europe couldn't find a winner against the new boys of international football.



Gibraltar goalkeeper Jordan Perez saved Freiburg midfielder Karim Guede's 12th-minute strike which was Slovakia's clearest chance of the game until stoppage time when the visitors hit the crossbar from a corner kick.



The best shot Gibraltar could muster was courtesy of Adam Priestley's break in the 10th minute which ended with his cross being deflected into the hands of Slovakia goalkeeper Tomas Kosicky.

Close but no goals: David Depetris of Slovakia did his best to find a way past Gibraltar who defended for the majority of the game

Man in charge: Gibraltar's head coach Allen Bula gestures to supporters after his side held Slovakia to a goalless draw

I'll drink to that: Gibraltar's supporters fully enjoyed watching their team hold Slovakia to a draw on their UEFA debut in Portugal

Gibraltar are bound to land a couple of heavyweight nations when they go into the draw for Euro 2016 next February and are planning to host the Faroe Islands and Estonia in March in its Victoria Stadium.



Spain has long-standing claims on Gibraltar, which was captured by Anglo-Dutch naval forces in 1704 and ceded to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.



The Gibraltar Football Association, which was founded in 1895, applied to FIFA for membership in 1997 with the backing of England, but the world governing body delegated the decision to UEFA.



Proud: Some Gibraltar supporters made the trip to Portual to cheer on their team and thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the result

Time to text: Prime minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo gets on his phone to spread the news that his country held Slovakia to a goalless draw

The match came after months of rising tensions between Spain and the tiny colony perched on a rocky outcropping near the western edge of the Mediterranean Sea.



Earlier on Tuesday, Britain's Foreign Office said it was summoning Spain's ambassador over what it calls ongoing incursion in Gibraltar's waters by a Spanish research vessel.

