GERMANY 15
MALTA 14
(5-3, 3-3, 3-5, 4-3)
Malta went agonisingly close in re-writing history on Thursday morning when they fell just one goal short in their intent to beat Germany for the first time at the World Cup Division Two qualifiers held in Istanbul.
Considering the different size of the two countries and our limited resources, this result must have sent shockwaves throughout the waterpolo world.
Malta had a great comeback that reached its peak in the third quarter of the match when they overturned an 8-5 deficit to go level on 10-10.
This was a recovery of gargantuan proportions which had teamwork, determination but above all, Steve Camilleri’s contribution, scorer of five goals to lift his team’s ego as the team battled bravely to redress the early imbalance.
An early Camilleri brace overturned the initial deficit. Then, the balance tilted again in favour of Germany as they went 4-2 up but Camilleri completed his hat-trick to narrow the gap to just one goal.
Midway through the second session, a 7-3 advantage might have given the Germans a false sense of security as quick goals from Zoran Bozic and Lukas Kueppers appeared to set their minds at rest.
Yet, it was the moment that Malta’s comeback started. Jayden Cutajar made it 7-4. It was the cue Milan Cirovic had been waiting for, as he called a time-out to pep his players. It worked as Nikolai Zammit reduced the arrears to just two goals.
The Germans could not shrug off their uneasiness, losing possession cheaply but Malta’s gritty resistance made life difficult.
Malta could have scored again, instead, they went three goals down when the Germans, aided by a controversial decision, converted a five-metre throw. Jeremy Abela reacted immediately to make it 8-6.
After the change of ends, the Maltese lads entered with a different verve, winning the swim up, taking their game in front of Felix Benke, the German goalkeeper. Zammit made it 8-7.
Despite recovering briefly on 9-7, the Germans were suffering the Maltese’s high press with Jake Bonavia, launching himself on every ball.
They missed two consecutive man-up situations. Bonavia’s contribution was not limited only to pressing the opponents as he made it 10-8.
Andreas Galea’s lob sustained Malta’s pressure on 10-9 before Camilleri finally cancelled the deficit.
At this important juncture, the match took a completely different complexion as both sides ensued in a fantastic ding-dong battle. Bonavia made it 11-11 from a tight angle before the end of the third session.
Germany tried to impose themselves on Malta again at the start of the final quarter as they went 12-11 ahead.
But Zammit completed his hat-trick to restore the equilibrium.
Bonavia earned his side a penalty and Cutajar converted the five-metre throw to earn Malta the lead for the first time since the early exchanges.
This was quite a turnaround for Malta.
But the German coach called a time-out to try and bring some sanity into their game. They made it 14-13 but Camilleri was not yet done and converted a great shot to equalise again.
Yet, thirty seconds from time, the Maltese hearts sank when Denis Stelenzkiji profited from the last man-up situation to give his team a narrow 15-14 win.
Malta will now play against the Netherlands on Friday in the final classification match, still with a chance to qualify for the semi-finals.
The two teams played in last year’s Christmas Cup in which the Dutch side emerged winners 21-7.
GERMANY : F. Benke, Z. Bozic 3, M. Dyck, F. Schultze 1, A. Sekulic, P. Dolff, D. Strelenzkiji 3, L. Kueppers 2, S. Seifert, T. Hofmann 2, N. Schipper 1, M. Gansen 3, M. Spittank, V. Simic.
MALTA : J. Tanti, L. Galea, A. Galea 1, M. Castillo, S. Gialanzè, B. Cachia , S.Camilleri 5, J. Cutajar 1 , J.Abela 1, N. Zammit 3 , D. Zammit , M. Azzopardi, B. Busuttil, J. Bonavia 2.
