The early years of the Malta women’s national team

In the second of a three-part series on women’s football, we look back on the early years of the women’s national team, starting with their debut match away to Romania in 2003. The Malta women’s national team made their international debut in a European Championship qualifier against Romania on August 10, 2003. It was an overwhelming experience for a group of Maltese girls who had never faced such strong opponents. Under the guidance of coach Pierre Brincat, now Director of Women’s Football, the national team played in front of 450 people with Dorianne Theuma one of the starting players. The full line-up also included Tonina Dimech as goalkeeper – she is still on the books of Birkirkara FC at age 59. Following that maiden match which Romania had won 3-0, Malta had to wait three more games before opening their scoring account. Sarah Caruana scored Malta’s first goal in the 4-1 defeat to Croatia on November 16, 2003. Three years later, Brincat steered Malta towards a historic feat – the first ever point as Theuma’s strike handed the Maltese girls a 1-1 draw against Bosnia & Herzegovina in the 2007 Women’s World Cup qualifiers. Malta’s first win on the international stage arrived in 2008 when Ylenia Carabott struck the winning goal against Estonia in a UEFA Mini-Tournament which also included Croatia and Turkey. 2013 HIGHLIGHT 2013 was a special year for the the Malta women’s team. Led by coach Brincat, Malta were drawn with Albania, Luxembourg and Latvia in the preliminary round with a place in the 2015 Women’s World Cup qualifiers at stake. After an opening 1-1 draw against Albania, the Maltese recorded two straight wins against Luxembourg (6-0) and Latvia (2-0), sealing a historic qualification to the next round. The scorers of the nine goals netted in those three games were Dorianne Theuma (four), Rachel Cuschieri (two), Nikki Buttigieg (two) and Ylenia Carabott.