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MALTA RENEWS ACQUAINTANCE WITH BULGARIA

Published: 25-05-2015 13:55
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  Next Friday the 12th of June Malta will face Bulgaria at Ta’ Qali National Stadium in a Euro 2016 qualifier, the sixth test for our lads in Group H. The tie follows the one in Sofia when our team held their own when drawing 1-1 with the infinitely more quoted Bulgarians. It will be the 13th match between the two countries since they met for the first time on the 11th June 1975, almost 40 years ago to the day. It will be the tenth competitive match of which six were World cup qualifiers and the others in continental competition. Three were friendliesWe managed three draws, one in the World Cup, the other in a friendly and the last one in November when we broke our duck in the group matches after earning the first point. It has certainly been a familiar trek for us where Bulgaria is concerned, and the forthcoming match renews this acquaintance between the two countries. Apart from snatching a creditable point against Italy following a 2-2 draw in Sofia, the Bulgarians have somewhat disappointed managing only one win against Azerbaijan, leaving them with a mere 5 points tally out of so many matches with any real hopes of qualifying to the final phase seeming very distant. This situation might favour our chances of getting a second positive result in this group. A result which might make us aspire that we can in the end avoid the last placing in Group H, come November this year.. Our aspirations are nonetheless based on solid foundations after the positive outcome last November. Coach Pietro Ghedin will be relying on a chore of seasoned units supplemented by some emerging talent. Concentration and collective play backed by solid support from the stands could very well do the trick                                                                                                                                                                                                   Whatever happens we look forward to an entertaining encounter played in the best of sporting spirit.  PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS 11 June 1975 Bulgariavs- MALTA5-0 (EC)21 December 1975 MALTAvs- Bulgaria0-2 (EC)14 October 1982 Bulgariavs- MALTA7-0 (F)26 December 1982 MALTAvs- Bulgaria0-0 (F)7 October 2000 Bulgariavs- MALTA3-0 (WC)31 August 2001 MALTAvs- Bulgaria0-2 (WC)13 October 2004 Bulgariavs- MALTA 4-1 (WC)12 October 2005 MALTAvs- Bulgaria1-1 (WC)18 November 2009 MALTAvs- Bulgaria1-4 (F)22 March 2013 Bulgariavs- MALTA6-0 (WC)10 Septeber 2013 MALTAvs- Bulgaria1-2 (WC)16 November 2014 Bulgariavs- MALTA1-1 (EC)  (EC)        -   European Championship Qualification Match(WC)      -   World Cup Qualification Match(F)           -   Friendly Match Tickets for this match are now available for sale For ticket information CLICK HERE