Malta’s aspirations of securing a historic promotion in the UEFA Nations League are hanging in the balance after suffering a damaging 2-0 defeat to Luxembourg in the opening leg of the play-off at the National Stadium on Thursday.
Vincent Thill’s instinctive strike early in the second half and Mathias Olesen’s last-gasp goal turned out to be decisive in a clash which saw Luxembourg enjoying the majority of possession, but with the best scoring opportunities being created by the Maltese players.
Malta’s failure to take the chances that came their way ultimately proved costly as Luxembourg struck through their only two shots on goal to take charge of the tie ahead of next Tuesday’s second leg away from our shores.
The national team’s task is likely to be further hampered by the potential absence of influential midfielder Teddy Teuma, who picked up a muscular injury and faces a major race against time to be fit for the match.
Malta coach Emilio De Leo fielded his strongest side available for the match, with Henry Bonello starting in goal, Kurt Shaw, and Enrico Pepe forming the central defensive pairing with Zach Muscat and Ryan Camenzuli patrolling the flanks.
Alex Satariano and Matthew Guillaumier ran the team’s endine room with Teddy Teuma, Paul Mbong, and Yles Chouaref operating behind the main forward, Irvin Cardona.
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