Malta national football team
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| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Nickname(s) | - | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Malta Football Association | ||
| Head coach |  Dušan Fitzel | ||
| Most caps | David Carabott (121) | ||
| Top scorer | Carmel Busuttil (23) | ||
| FIFA code | MLT | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 118 | ||
| Highest | 66 (September 1994) | ||
| Lowest | 144 (September 2006) | ||
| First international | |||
 Malta 2 - 3 Austria  (Gżira, Malta; February 24, 1957) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Malta 5 - 0 Azerbaijan  (Ta' Qali, Malta; April 19, 1994) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Spain 12 - 1 Malta (Seville, Spain; December 21, 1983) | |||
| Appearances | (first in -) | ||
| Best result | - | ||
| Appearances | (first in -) | ||
| Best result | - | ||
The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition and as of 12 October 2006 has won only four competitive matches. The first two wins were victories of 2-0 and 2-1 at home to Greece and Iceland in European Championship qualifiers in 1975 and 1982 respectively, and the third came with a 1-0 victory away to Estonia in a 1993 World Cup qualifier.
On 11 October 2006, Malta managed a fourth competitive victory - a 2-1 triumph over Hungary in the European Championship qualifying with Andre Schembri scoring twice.
Other important results were the two draws, 1-1 and 2-2, against Hungary during the qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
During 2005 the Malta National Team obtained some home positive results. Both were 1-1 draws against Croatia and Bulgaria. Another positive result was the 1-1 home draw in a friendly match against Northern Ireland . In 2006, in a friendly against Japan, played for the World Cup Finals preparation in Germany, managed to keep the score to 0-1 despite conceding an early goal.
Malta 2 Bosnia & Herzegovina 5
In the current Euro 2008 qualifiers, Malta lost against ćBosnia national football team 2-5 at the Ta' Qali Stadium. Jamie Pace managed to score a magnificent goal from outside the box to make the score level, 1-1, after Sergei Barbarez scored the first goal of the match. However, the experience and teamwork of the Bosnians outperformed the Maltese team, and managed to score two other goals before they end of the first half by Mirko Hrgović and Mladen Bartolović. The Bosnians continued to dominate possession, and were creating danger from the wings. They managed to score two more goals in the second half by Zlatan Muslimović and Zvjezdan Misimović, to make the score 5-1. However, the Maltese started to regain confidence, especially when the Bosnian star, Sergei Barbarez, was substituted. Malta started to create more opportunities up front, and finally, on the 85th. minute, Michael Mifsud managed to score a goal. They could have reduced the goal difference by more in the last minutes of the game.
Turkey 2 Malta 0 In the second game, Malta encountered Turkey national football team in a David and Goliath battle. The game was played in Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt, because the UEFA banned the Turkish national team to play in their country. Malta defended very well throughout the game, and it was only on the 56th. minute that Nihat Kahveci scored the first goal for Turkey. Tümer Metin added the second for the Turkey national football team, 21 minutes later. During the game, goalie Justin Haber and defender Brian Said, managed to lead the defence, and keep the score low.
Malta 2 Hungary 1 Malta played the third game back in the Ta' Qali Stadium, on the 11th. October 2006. Early in the game, Malta already showed that their intentions were to attack the opponents. Hungary national football team contained quality players such as Sándor Torghelle, Gábor Király, Pál Dárdai and Zoltán Gera in their starting line-up. However, it was Andre Schembri who scored after 14th. minutes of play with a simple tap-in after Michael Mifsud hit the bar. Sandor Torghelle equalised soon after. It seemed that Malta were going to lose control of the game, until Vilmos Vanczák was sent off. Michael Mifsud operated a fast counter-attack, and forced the chasing Hungarian defender to tackle from behind. From that point in time till the end of the game, the Maltese dominated the game. Andre Schembri scored the winning goal on the 53rd. minute, and players such as Terence Scerri, Jamie Pace, and Gilbert Agius missed several other chances to make the score even bigger. The Hungary national football team tried to attack using the wings, and take an advantage over the sloppy defending at the back of the home team. Finally, the referee blewed the final whistle, and the celebration for the fourth competitive victory ever had begun! The man of match was Michael Mifsud who left an important impression that will certainly affect his future.
The team is sponsored by Diadora.
The Current Euro 2008 First Team Squad is:
Ian Azzopardi
Template:Floriana F.C.
Ian Ciantar
Template:Floriana F.C.
Peter Pullicino
Msida Saint-Joseph FC
Kenneth Scicluna
Birkirkara F.C.
Stephen Wellman
Marsaxlokk F.C.
Trevor Cilia
Template:Floriana F.C.
George Mallia
Template:Floriana F.C.
Gareth Sciberras
Marsaxlokk F.C.
Gilbert Agius (captain)
Valletta F.C.
Michael Mifsud
Coventry City F.C.
Terence Scerri
Hibernians F.C.
Andre Schembri
Marsaxlokk F.C.
Currently, there are only two players who are playing in a foreign country. Michael Mifsud has joined Coventry City from Lillestrom on January 2007, whilst Andrei Agius plays with Martina Franca in Italy.
World Cup record
European Championship record
External link
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