Narrow defeat for Under-17 side to hosts Slovenia

Malta lost 2-1 to hosts Slovenia in the second match from Group 3 of the qualifying round of the UEFA Under-17 Championship at the NNC Brdo in Kranj, Slovenia.

Following the heavy defeat to Austria on Wednesday, the team’s performance improved considerably.

Benjamin Šeško put Slovenia ahead on the 18 th minute but Mattia Veselji converted a penalty on the 27th to level matters. However Slovenia regained the lead on the 36th thanks toanother goal by Šeško.

Malta plays the third and final match against Bulgaria at the Stanko Mlakar Stadion in Kranj on Wednesday. Bulgaria lost the first game against Slovenia 0-1 and lost again to Austria 1-2 on Saturday.

SLOVENIA Žan Luk Leban, Žiga Dajčman, Gašper Pečnik, Aleks Zlatkov, Luka Vukovič, Jan Majcen (73′ Matic Krašovic), Benjamin Šeško, Martin Pečar, David Flakus Bosilj (64′ Domen Žur), Žiga Slaviček, Vanja Panič

MALTA Dylan Ciappara, Sheldon Mizzi, Ismael Borg, Matthew Ellul (76′ Isaac Galea), Karl Mohnani, Emerson Camilleri (82′ Gianluca Sciberras), Mattia Veselj, Jordan Kelly (64′ Kurt Briffa), Jake Bone, Owen Spiteri, Jake Engerer (82′ Kurt Desira).

Referee: Dejan Jakimovksi (MKD)
Assistant referees: Kushtrim Lika (MKD), Jakob Lodal Lynge Mastrup (DEN)
Fourth official: Jørgen Burchardt (DEN)