Malta lost 0-4 to Slovakia in the opening match from the VisitMalta Women’s Trophy which got underway on Thursday at the Hibernians Stadium.
Ranked 45th, compared to Malta’s 85th, Slovakia were a superior side to the locals who lacked Haley Bugeja and Ylenia Carabott.
They managed to take the lead on the 10th minute when off a freekick by Jana Vojtekova, Veronika Slukova deflected the ball past goalkeeper Janice Xuereb.
On the 21st, Slovakia doubled the score courtesy of Kristina Panakova whose rising shot from outside the area gave Xuereb no chance.
Fourteen minutes from time, Lucia Ondrusova beat the Malta goalkeeper with a diagonal shot from the left to make it 3-0.
Four minutes in added time, Slovakia scored the fourth goal thanks to Maria Mikolajova who lobbed the ball over Xuereb following a corner from the right by Vojtekova.
On Friday, Austria face Sweden while on Tuesday, Malta takes on mighty Sweden and Slovakia meet Austria.
MALTA Janice Xuereb, Stephania Farrugia, Rachel Cuschieri (82′ Kayleigh Chetcuti), Alishia Sultana, Maria Farrugia (69′ Emma Xuereb), Shona Zammit, Jade Flask (89′ Simone Buttigieg), Charlene Zammit, Brenda Borg (46′ Martina Borg), Nicole Sciberras, Veronique Mifsud (46′ Ann-Marie Said).
Coach: Mark GattSLOVAKIA Patricia Chladekova, Alexandra Biroova (62′ Maria Mikolajova), Kristina Panakova, Patricia Fisherova, Patricia Hmirova (62′ Diana Lemesova), Kristina Kosikova (73′ Monika Bytcankova), Diana Bartovicova, Dominika Skorvankova (55’ Lucia Ondrusova), Jana Vojtekova, Martina Surnovska (73′ Stela Semenova), Veronika Slukova (62′ Monika Havranova)
Coach: Peter KopunReferee: Marina Aufschnaiter (AUT)
Assistant Referees: Sara Telek, Biljana Iskin (AUT)
Fourth Official: Michelle Mizzi
