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Malta U-16s’ bold effort not enough to stop Luxembourg

Published: 21-02-2019 19:20
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International U-16 Friendly Match MALTA U-16               2LUXEMBOURG U-16 4 The Malta U-16 team produced a late rally but it was not enough to deny Luxembourg who won an entertaining friendly match 4-2 at the Centenary Stadium. Led by coach Noel Turner, the Maltese boys did their best to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat in the opening warm-up but Luxembourg again proved tough opponents. Luxembourg went close to opening the scoring on 15 minutes when a header by Cedric Baiverlin ended wide. Malta’s first notable attempt came from Sebastian Cassar Torregiani whose effort finished high. On 30 minutes, a direct free-kick by Luxembourg captain Timothe Rupil was saved by Malta goalkeeper Miguel Spiteri who had a good match. Two minutes later, Luxembourg broke the deadlock when Baiverlin’s accurate drive from outside the penalty box had the better of the diving Spiteri. Malta pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages of the first half, creating two good chances. A cross-shot by Jacob Crossey was deflected away a corner with the ball sailing past the far post. Two minutes later, Malta missed a great chance as Kurt Briffa released Azriel Borg who dashed into the box but fired high with only the goalkeeper to beat. Luxembourg made Malta pay for these missed chances in the second half. Midway into the second half, Tiago Rodrigues da Costa doubled the lead for the visitors with a close-range effort. Luxembourg went 3-0 up 12 minutes from time, Noah Rossler scoring from the rebound after Luciano Camilleri, who had come on for Spiteri, had blocked the initial attempt. Malta pulled one back 10 minutes from time with a goal from Andrea Zammit who had entered the fray in the second half. The goals kept coming with Luxembourg restoring their advantage with Rodrigues da Costa’s second goal as Turner’s team pushed forward. On the stroke of time, Zammit capitalised on a mistake by the Luxembourg goalkeeper to score his second goal. Malta produced another promising attack in the dying minutes but Jed Valletta was blocked by the Luxembourg defence. These friendly matches were intended to help Malta's preparations for next month's UEFA Youth Development Tournament.Between March 4 and 8, the Malta U-16 team will play against Albania, Denmark and Scotland with all matches being played at the Centenary Stadium.  MALTAMiguel Spiteri (Luciano Camilleri), Sebastian Cassar Torregiani, Owen Sammut (Russel Micallef), Mattia Aquilina (Zean Leonardi), James Vella, Nathan Agius (Andrea Zammit), Kurt Briffa (Glending Farrugia), Azriel Borg (Jake Grech), Joseph Xerri (Jed Valletta), Brite Anayochi Ihuomah (Neil Buttigieg), Jacob Crossey (Matteo Gambin).LUXEMBOURGEvan Da Costa, Noah Rossler, Eldin Dzogovic, Fabio Cerqueira Martins, Paul Schroeder, Ruben Goncalves Matheus, Ryley Ferreira, Franz Sinner, Eldin Cikotic, Cedric Baiverlin, Timothe Rupil. Referee: Luke Xuereb.