Third defeat for Under-19 side in mini-tournament

The Malta Under-19 side ended its commitments in the Group 9 mini-tournament which was held in Slovenia, suffering the third defeat in three matches. Malta lost 4-0 to hosts Slovenia with all goals coming in the first half.

On the 7th minute, Dino Stan?i? gave the hosts an early lead. Enej Jeleni? doubled the score on 33 minutes and four minutes later, Stan?i? made it 3-0. Jeleni? was on target once again three minutes from the end of the first half to increase the lead further.

After the break, Malta did have two good chances to reduce the gap. On the 50th, a good shot by Keith Fedele just missed the target and then on 78 minutes, substitute Ryan Micallef hit the cross bar with a shot from just outside the area.

Malta therefore ended its commitments at the bottom of the group, behind group winners Netherlands, runners-up Slovakia and third-placed Slovenia on nine, six and three points respectively.

MALTA Jean Matthias Vella, Dylan Sammut, Keith Fedele, Jean Paul Farrugia (46′ Ryan Micallef), Zach Muscat, Bjorn Kristensen (46′ Quincy Bregman), James Paris, Ansel Briffa, Matthew Tabone, Christian Vassallo, Clyde Borg (66′ Christian Grech).
SLOVENIA Ažbe Jug (84′ Dejan Vre?ko), Žiga Kous, Nemanja Mitrovi?, Filip Valen?i?, Enej Jeleni?, Dino Stan?i? (75′ Elvis Bratanovi?), Blaž Vrhovec, Timotej Petek, Gregor Zamernik, Marko Roškar (78′ Martin Lenošek), Alen Ploj.
Referee: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
Assistant referees: Vencel Toth (HUN), Sr?an Milutinovi? (SRB)
Fourth official: Boško Jovaneti? (SRB)