Watch: It was the best night of my life, says Haley Bugeja after Serie A brace

“I can’t explain my debut” were Haley Bugeja’s first words after she spearheaded Sassuolo Femminile to a comeback victory over Napoli Ladies on her Serie A maiden game on Saturday.

‘When I started to increase my goal tally in the early stages of my career, I was becoming aware of my talent and my dream was to play in an important championship like the Serie A,” Bugeja said.

“I am here to help my team to reach our goals and improve on last season especially because the players gave me a warm welcome, I integrated well and I feel very happy to be part of this group.”

Bugeja, 16, was only registered last Thursday and was immediately deployed from the start by Sassuolo coach Giancarlo Piovani. The Malta women international, who collected two goals in six caps, justified his decision after a brilliant solo effort helped her side level terms after Napoli had forged ahead.

After the break, Sassuolo took the lead from the penalty spot before another splendid individual piece of brilliance by Bugeja sealed the win for the Neroverde.

The former Mġarr United player glued the local and Italian audience to their televisions and has grabbed the headlines of all mainstream and women’s football portals with her stellar performance.

‘Lyon are already monitoring Haley Bugeja’, ‘A star is born’ and ‘Stellar goals from Haley Bugeja’ were among the comments made by the media about the Malta striker.

Bugeja will now join the Malta national team for the upcoming UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 qualifier against Denmark scheduled for September 22.

Then, she will return to Italy as Sassuolo will face a stern test in their league campaign against Serie A favourites Fiorentina.