Malta’s European Championship campaign can only be rescued unless we finish in 13th place, says ASA president

Aquatic Sports Association of Malta president Karl Izzo could not hide his disappointment at seeing the waterpolo national team miss out on their goal of securing a Top 12 finish at the European Championships in Belgrade.

Malta saw their hopes of a top-three finish come to an end on Monday after suffering a comprehensive 22-13 defeat to France, a defeat which the ASA president described as ‘one of the worst performances of a national team in the last ten years’.

“I am really disappointed with the performance of the team so far in the championships,” Izzo told the Times of Malta.

“After the good showing against Montenegro, I expected the team to provide a very stern challenge to France. But it was completely the opposite, as in my view, this was one of the worst performances for a national team in a major championship in the last ten years.

“There are no excuses for this result as the ASA has provided the team a very strong preparation for the tournament – unprecedented for any national team,” Izzo said.

“The team played three friendlies against Portugal in Malta in December, and then we took them for a five-day training camp in Slovenia, where they also had the opportunity to play some friendlies.

“To beat France was never a foregone conclusion, but I expected the team to put on a very strong challenge and keep fighting for the win till the final seconds of the match.

“Our players were not at it, from a mental point of view, and there are very few positives to take from that performance.

“I expect a strong reaction from the players, and they must roll up their sleeves to ensure we at least finish in 13th place.”

The build-up to the match against France was marred by the controversy behind the exclusion of Jake Muscat, who was sent home by coach Milan Cirovic for disciplinary reasons.

The ASA president said that he wasn’t happy with the decision to send Muscat home as it would affect the team harmony, but he believes that if the technical staff deemed that it was the right decision, then he would support their stance.

“As a player, no one can say anything about Jake Muscat’s qualities as a waterpolo player, as in my mind he is one of the best, if not the best talents in the Maltese game,” Izzo said.

“Unfortunately, in the past few days, there have been a lot of clashes between him and the team’s technical staff, who tried to sit down and speak to him, and try to iron out the differences.

“However, the technical staff were not happy with Muscat’s behaviour, who was continuously embroiled in clashes with the technical staff and the head coach Milan Cirovic, decided that the best solution to protect the harmony of the group was to send Muscat home.

“It’s a sensible decision as Milan prioritised the group over the individual.”

Malta will now be back in action on Wednesday when they face Hungary in their final group qualifier. Although the Hungarians will be too strong, Izzo still expects a response from his players to try to end the tournament on a strong note.

“I want to see a response from the players against Hungary,” Izzo said.

“It’s a tough match, but I want to see an improvement. Our priority now has to be the final part of the tournament when we take part in the positional play-offs between 13th and 16th place, where we need to win all matches… if not, this campaign will be a failure.”