Malta lost 1-6 to France in the first game from the Group D Preliminary Round mini-tournament from the UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 at the Cottonera Sports Complex on Friday.

The team led by Vic Hermans will now meet Bulgaria on Saturday. The Bulgarians came from behind to beat Lithuania 6-3 in the first game.

Jonathan Chaulet put France ahead on the 4th minute and doubled two minutes later through Alexandre Teixeira. On the 13th minute, Kamel Hamdoud made it three for France.

In the second half, Malta pushed forward and created a couple of goal scoring opportunities but the visitors increased the lead thanks to goals by David La Boette on 26 and 35 minutes. Glen Bonello pulled one back for Malta on 35 minutes but Teixeira sealed the issue with a sixth goal for France on the 37th.

MALTA M. Mifsud, C. Brincat, J. Cutajar, G. Frendo, P. Bugeja, M. Borg, G. Bonello, D. Gera, B. Vassallo, C.Scicluna, T. Zammit, C. Cope
FRANCE D.Haroun, A. Aouni, S. Balki, S. Basson, J. Chaulet, A. Debieb, K. Hamdoud, M. Kourar, M. Otmani, D. La Boette, A. Teixeira, R. Karouni.

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