Malta lost 0-3 to England in the first match of the Futsal EURO qualification round Group E at the Corradino Pavillion.
As expected, England dominated play right from the start and Maltese keeper Matthew Mifsud was kept busy but managed prevent further damage. Despite all this Malta gave a spirited performance and managed to operate on counter-attacks.
Ian Parkes surged England ahead after three minutes while Luke Ballinger and Agon Rexha added two more goals in the second half to ensure of the first points of the tournament.
Malta’s best chance fell on Matteo Desira Buttigieg’s feet as he saw his shot saved from the goal line by English defender George Nash.
Meanwhile, Latvia grabbed the first three points of the tournament when they saw off Andorra 3-2.
Oskars Iktens broke the deadlock for Latvia with Igor Avanesovs doubling the score before half time. In the second half, Latvia continued to dominate and managed to score the third one through Sens Maksims. However Andorra produced a late reaction and managed to score two goals through Diogenes Lino and Ignacio Llamas.
On Thursday, Latvia face England at 17:00 while Malta take on Andorra at 19:30.