World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

ThemainboardroomatMalta’s
NationalStadiumatTa’ Qaliisfull
oftrophies.Thatwouldbeexpected
inthe home of manynational
associations,butthereis some
irony at thisgleamingcollection.
TheMaltaFootballAssociation
(MFA)wasfoundedin 19 00,joined
FIFAin 1 95 9 andmadetheircompetitive
debutfiveyearslater, whentheisland
securedindependencefromBritain,but
thenationalteamhasnotcollected
anyseniortrophies.
Malta’s 3 -0winoverCyprusatTa’
QaliinSeptember 2021 wasonlytheir
third-ever wininWorldCup qualifying

• andtheirfirst at home.Eventhe
  marvellousnew footballmuseumat
  Ta’Qalicelebratesclosedefeatsamid
  a handfulofmemorablevictories.
  Malta’slackofsuccessisharder to
  gaugewhencomparedto similarsized

MALTA

Shakingthingsup

SteveMenaryreports

eye

witness

Europeannations.Theislandhas a

populationof460,000 andfootball

iseasilythemostpopular sport

aheadofwater poloandrugby.

Yet whileIceland– population

354, 000 – qualifiedfor a major

tournamentandLuxembourghave

madeconsistentprogress,Malta’sbest

performanceina qualifyingcampaign

wasthefivepoints accumulatedinthe

Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Comingoff thebackofa 2-2drawin

Slovakia,thatwinoverCyprusseemed

tosuggestthatDevisMangia’steamhad

turneda corner. Thenexttwo results

broughtnarrow defeatsin Slovenia and

RussiaandwhenMalta secureda 2-2

drawinNicosia,the 2008 tallyof five

pointshadbeenemulated.

Thenthe Maltaofoldreturned.

Insteadofsurpassingthatfigure,

Mangia’steamwerebattered 7-1

and6-0athometoCroatiaand

Slovakia,respectively. Thoseresults

leftMaltabottom of GroupH on

goaldifferencebehind Cyprus.

SittinginthatboardroomatTa’Qali,

theMFApresidentBjornVassallo

promises:“Inmymandate,I will spend

a lotofmoney on resources to improve

thetechnicalsideandthe development

sowedonotgetisolatedresultsbut

constantgrowthinour nationalteams.

“Mymainambitionisforthe

performance of thenationalteams,

butmy plangotshakenup.”

Thoseplansrangefromtakingover

therunningofjuniorleaguestoa€50m

redevelopmentofthe 1 7, 000 -capacity

NationalStadium.Mostgamesin Malta’s

Ta’QaliStadium...

thehomeof

Maltesefootball

MFApresident...BjornVassallo(credit:DomenicAquilina)

TheheadofMaltesefootballhas

bigplansfortheislandnation