Malta outpower Portugal to secure sixth successive qualification to Euro finals

PORTUGAL  13

MALTA           17

(0-4- 3-6, 5-3, 5-4)

They did it again. The Malta waterpolo national team booked their place into the European Championship finals for a sixth successive time when they brushed aside Portugal and joined France in next year’s continental finals in Belgrade.

It was a much-improved performance from Milan Cirovic’s boys when compared to their display against Ukraine 24 hours later, as the team was far more clinical in front of goal and managed to defend much better.

Skipper Stevie Camilleri was again Malta’s stand-out performer when he netted four goals in crucial moments of the match, while the physical presence of Matthew Zammit proved decisive in breaching the Portuguese backline.

The win left Malta with maximum spoils from two matches, level on points with France, and these two teams will battle for top spot in today’s final match.

But whatever happens, it’s still a remarkable result for Cirovic and his players to have kept up the standards and protected their place among Europe’s top 16 teams in the sport with their latest qualification.

Malta were determined to make a strong start to the match and lay down an early marker, and they certainly did that in style with a clinical first-session performance.

Jayden Cutajar fired them ahead with a firm drive from a man-up set while Jeremy Abela doubled the lead with an instinctive flick following a lightning transition.

Portugal were all over the place defensively, and Matthew Zammit added a third goal before Benji Cachia made it 4-0.

At the other end, Jake Tanti was rock solid in goal, producing some fine saves to protect the team’s clean sheet.

Portugal finally found the breakthrough when Paraty scored from a man-up set to bridge the gap to 4-1.

Malta missed a few scoring opportunities in this second session, but luckily for us the Portuguese failed to profit, and Stevie Camilleri was on hand to make it 6-2 from the penalty spot.

Nikolai Zammit further increased the buffer with a fine strike from the distance to open a commanding five-goal lead.

Portugal seemed to have crumbled defensively, and Liam Galea made it 8-2 before Muscat and Stevie Camilleri ensured the hosts changed ends 10-3 ahead with fine strikes.

Camilleri again displayed his precise shooting from a distance to add an 11th goal while Jake Muscat let fly a fierce drive to make it 12-4.

The Portuguese had no plans to throw in the towel as they scored three goals without reply to bridge the gap to 12-7 before Darren Zammit responded for the hosts.

A goal by Salvador Lopes left Malta leading 13-8 ahead with one session to go.

Malta now needed to administer their five-goal advantage, and they responded well to Lopes’ strike as Darrin Zammit soon restored his team’s lead to make it 14-9 with less than five minutes to go.

Stevie Camilleri calmed any nerves the Maltese fans might have had when firing home another spectacular strike before Jake Bonavia converted a lightning transition to all but seal the win for 16-10 lead.

Liam Galea converted a penalty, and although Dumitru Sobetchi and Xavier Sousa struck for the visitors, it was too little, too late as Malta strolled to victory.

Portugal: P. Camargo, R. Teixeira 1, X. Sousa 1, J.P. Sousa, D. Sobetchi 1, P. Sousa 3, R. Ramos 2, S. Lopes 1, R. Sousa 1, D. Pinto 2, L. Abreu, T. Paraty 1, S. Veiga, J. Moreira.

MALTA: J. Tanti, J. Muscat 2, L. Galea 2, B. Cachia 1, S. Gialanze, M. Zammit 2, S. Camilleri 4, J. Cutajar 1, J. Abela 1, N. Zammit 2, D. Zammit 1, J. Bonavia 1, B. Busuttil, E. Schembri 2.

Referees: Rik Evers (Netherlands), Maxim Gerasimov (Great Britain).

Other result: Ukraine vs France 10-24.