Brave Malta U-19s beat Luxembourg in friendly match

LUXEMBOURG 0 MALTA 1

The Malta Under-19 team obtained a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Luxembourg in a friendly match at the Mertzig Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Paul Mbong’s first-half goal settled this close encounter in which the young Maltese players showed commendable resilience to hold out for victory after captain Dejan Debono was sent off for two yellow cards 15 minutes into the second half.

Winston Muscat, the Malta Under-19 coach, had good reason to be satisfied with his team’s energetic performance.

“I’m very pleased,” Muscat told www.mfa.com.mt.

“Credit to the boys for a brave performance... we were very good tactically. We played with 10 men for the last 30 minutes... Dejan Debono’s red card was harsh but the team showed character to overcome this setback.

“This performance augurs well for the second match against Luxembourg on Thursday but we must remain cautious and focused.”

The only blot on an otherwise fruitful evening for Malta was the injury suffered by goalkeeper Duncan Formosa.

Thursday’s friendly will be played at the Bascharage Stadium, starting at 19.30.

These matches against Luxembourg are part of the Malta U-19 squad’s build-up for their commitments in the qualifying round of the UEFA Under-19 Championship.

Belgium, France and Lithuania are the other teams in the Group 6 tournament, being staged in Malta between November 14 and 20, 2018.

STARTING FORMATIONS LUXEMBOURG

Andrè Leite Barrela, Igor Teles Santos, Tun Held, Seid Korac, Kevin D’Anzico, Mathias Olesen, Lucas Coopmans, Dylan Nsidjine Kuete, Magnus Hardahl Hansen, Nuno Vilar Rodrigues, Yannick Schaus.

MALTA

Duncan Formosa, Adam Magri Overend, Zak Grech, Dejan Debono, Chris Gauci, Shaun Dimech, Marcus Grima, Carlo Zammit Lonardelli, Alex Satariano, Ayrton Attard, Paul Mbong.

Referee: Victor Inacio Santos