Malta’s national water polo team “went through hell” to achieve a historic 13th place finish at the European Championship finals in Belgrade, the team’s coach has said.
Milan Cirovic said the team’s final position – Malta’s best-ever in the competition – merited more recognition.
“This achievement is much bigger than anyone can imagine,” he said.
“These 14 players went through hell to achieve this 13th place. They didn’t just fight against their opponents in the water but also fought against some opponents outside of the pool. For that I have great respect for each player.”
Cirovic was speaking at a press conference held on Tuesday to highlight the team’s achievement.
The team lost its first three games in the competition and was then rocked by reports that a number of players were being investigated on match-fixing suspicions. The team however, rallied to win its final three games and secure its final 13th position.
Cirovic thanked everyone who had backed the team throughout the tournament, saying their support was invaluable. He also had words of praise for his coaching staff, clubs and other coaches working to improve water polo in Malta.
Aquatic Sports Association President Karl Izzo said the team had done an outstandng job.
“Our tournament really started in our last three days, where the team was involved in the positional play-offs, and here the character of the team came to the fore,” Izzo said.
“With so many things going on during the last 10 days, our boys proved to be mentally very strong and were united as one team. It’s not a joke that they managed to win three games out of three against strong opponents… so all the credit to them.”
Malta’s three losses came against Hungary, Montenegro and France, and Izzo said those teams had shown their value.
“Those who understand the game will agree that the team managed to put in a very respectable performance against Hungary and Montenegro, which ended the tournament in second and seventh place, respectively,” he said, adding that France also proved to be superior to Malta.
“I have to admit that our expectation of winning our match against France was a bit far-fetched,” he said.
Izzo heaped praise on the work done by coach Cirovic, his assistant Jonathan Valletta, and national team director Chris Sladden.
He reserved special mention for skipper Stevie Camilleri, who finished fourth in the top scorers’ list of the tournament, Matthew Zammit, and Ivan Nagaev, who made his competitive debut for Malta during the tournament.
The team had prepared well ahead of the tournament, he said, with friendlies in Portugal and a training camp in Slovenia.
“This result didn’t come by chance, but it’s a result of the hard work put in by everybody, players, coaches, and clubs,” he said.
ASA engages lawyer on match-fixing probe
Asked about the match-fixing allegations that rocked the team, Izzo said he had no new information to provide at the moment.
However, he said the ASA had engaged lawyer Herman Mula.
“He will be in charge of overseeing this matter from an integrity perspective and I believe that he is the perfect person to do so,” Izzo said.
“I will not comment on this case until we receive official information from the authorities. Once things are made clearer, we will call the media to give more details on the case and give our position.
“At the moment, we will leave the authorities to do their work.”
