د . إAEDSRر . س

Injury-Ridden Malta Fails To Score Goal In First International Tournament At Home

Article Featured Image

A hampered Malta national football team failed to score a goal in the first edition of the VisitMalta Women’s Trophy tournament held at Hibernians Stadium.

Despite the disappointing result, the experience has been hailed as a success for a young and ambitious Maltese side which was missing a number of key players over the tournament due to injuries.

“Given that we have a number of absent players, this tournament has served as a platform for the fringe players to be part of the senior set-up for an international tournament and gain experience on a daily basis, both on the training field and on matchdays,” said head coach Mark Gatt.

Malta opened the tournament last week with a 4-0 defeat against a much-improved Slovakia side. Earlier today, the ladies in red put up a good fight against fifth-ranked Sweden but ultimately succumbed to a 3-0 loss.

Missing from Malta’s lineup was rising star Haley Bugeja as well as Dorianne Theuma, Maya Lucia and Ylenia Carabott, who most recently underwent knee surgery.

Lazio defender Emma Lipman was also sidelined due to injury along with midfielder Jade Flask.

Malta’s poor performance over the tournament comes just months after the team jumped to 85th place in the FIFA world rankings, after a formidable performance at the Euro 2020 Qualifiers.

“Our aim is to build a more competitive squad over the next two years when we will be taking part in the World Cup qualifiers,” Gatt said.

The first edition of the VisitMalta Women’s Tournament comes to a close this evening with Austria facing off against Slovakia at 6.30pm.

Tag a footballer

READ NEXT: 13-Year-Old Maltese Bowler Signs Sponsorship Contract With United States Corporation

When JP's not too busy working on polyrhythmic beats, you'll probably find him out and about walking his dog.

You may also love

View All