The Malta Under-17 side finished its commitments in the UEFA Under-17 Group 8 mini-tournament in third place following a draw with Andorra and will now have to wait until Sunday to know whether they will make it to the next stage of the competition.
The morale in the Malta clan in Andorra was high following a remarkable 2-1 win over the Netherlands last Saturday. With Northern Ireland leading the way with six points, Malta and the Netherlands following on three, the Maltese needed a win and hope that the Netherlands fail to beat Northern Ireland in the other game.
At the Estadi Comunal in Andorra La Vella, a goal by Jürgen Locadia nine minutes in the second half gave the Netherlands a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland. On the other hand, at the Camp d’ Esports del M.I. Consell General, Malta was held in a goalless draw by hosts Andorra who were claiming their first points after losing 0-4 to Netherlands and 0-2 to Northern Ireland.
Netherlands therefore won the group after winning the direct clash with Northern Ireland, who move on to the next stage as runners-up.
Malta will now have to wait till the last matches to know its fate as three groups remain still open – Group 1, 5 and 9. Two third-placed sides with the best record against the top pair in their group from the 13 sections will qualify for the next round. Bulgaria, Estonia and Luxembourg also stand on four points but their wins are against the bottom placed team in their respective group whilst Malta’s win is against the Netherlands which topped group 8.
A tally of four points is already the highest-ever in this tournament and Malta have never before progressed through a round of a UEFA youth competition.
MALTA Carlos Dimech, Malcolm Vella, Brandon Gatt, Zach Muscat, Matthew Hammett (59′ Ryan Dalli), Bjorn Kristensen, Sacha Borg, Christian Briffa, Ian Scerri (79′ Terence Agius), Dylan D’Agostino (41′ John Debono), Christian Grech.