Malta women’s coach Tesse eyes more improvement after Northern Ireland draw

The Malta women’s national team continued to write history after launching their League B debut in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 qualifications with a draw against Northern Ireland on Friday.

It was the perfect way to keep the momentum going after a spectacular League C campaign that captivated the interest of the Maltese public in the women’s selection.

Ranked 46th in the world, 41 places above Malta, Northern Ireland are eyeing another qualification to a major tournament after participating in the last edition of the European Championships in 2021.

Starting with a home win was imperative for them, just like the coach emphasised in her pre-match comments, but at the same time they were aware of how dangerous Malta could prove.

Although the Maltese selection rarely tested goalkeeper Jackie Burns, Manuela Tesse’s side was tactically organised and remained focused until the final whistle, a testament to the good physical condition which allowed the players to fight till the end.

The goalless draw meant that Northern Ireland failed to score in a home game for the first time in six games – the last time they did not find the net in Belfast was in a 0-5 defeat to England.

“We were very good out of possession, managing to cancel their attacking drives,” Tesse told the Times of Malta.

Although their 13 goals helped them secure important victories in League C, their single goal conceded in six games reflected their security at the back.

It was something that Tesse wanted to keep improving heading into League B, playing against some of Europe’s best nations including Tuesday’s opponents Portugal.

“When we face stronger teams like Portugal, we need to be able to dictate the game rhythm,” Tesse explained.

“We need to learn how to control the intensity of the game and we can only do this if we are not scared to defend with the ball, meaning maintaining possession.”

Asked about what the team can learn from the Northern Ireland draw, the Italian coach pointed out that Malta has plenty of room for improvement.

However, she did highlight the team’s resiliency which reflects her warrior character as she demonstrates throughout the whole  90 minutes.

Portugal launched their qualifying campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on home soil.

Having qualified for the last two Euro editions alongside last year’s World Cup, the Portuguese side will be eyeing a second straight win against Malta.

Nonetheless, they will have to negotiate with an organised and resilient Malta side that showed its mettle against a Northern Ireland selection that had qualified for the recent European Championships as well.