The Malta women’s Under-19 national team lost 0-3 to Bulgaria in a friendly match at the Tony Bezzina Stadium on Tuesday.
The hosts held the initiative throughout the game but lost concentration in the beginning of the second half, conceding two goals in two minutes.
The Maltese girls tried however failed to score. They went near after just three minutes Sarah Vella Barberi who saw her shot go slightly wide. The hosts were repeatedly foiled by the Bulgarian goalkeeper, Mayya Staneva who capped an outstanding display and neutralised the attempts of Yulya Carella, Iulia Mifsud and captain Alexandra Gatt.
The Bulgarians went ahead in their first attack in the second half. Nadezhda Ivanova scored two individual identical goals on the 5th and 7th minute of the second half. These two goals did not dampen Malta’s spirits who kept on fighting without managing to score.
It was the Bulgarians who found the net on 75th minute. The Bulgarians increased the lead thanks to another individual goal by Aleksandra Sergeeva who beat substitute goalkeeper Raisa Constantino from close range.
Malta captain Alexandra Gatt hit the goal post in the dying minutes of the game.
MALTA Maya Cachia (60’ Raisa Constantino), Izabella Camilleri (73’ Gaia Antonelli), Georgiana Mifsud, Tammy Falzon (86’ Fatma Al Girbi), Michaela Ionadi, Alexandra Gatt, Iulia Mifsud (85’ Ylenia Grech), Ileana Farrugia (75’ Kim Fava), Yulya Carella, Sarah Vella Barberi (85’ Martina Spiteri), Nicole Camenzuli (60’ Jeanelle Falzon).
BULGARIA Mayya Staneva (86’ Aleksandra Hristova), Teodora Metodieva (89’ Natalia Arzhanova), Rona Mihaylova (89’ Mariela Markova), Vanesa Ivanova, Eva Atanasova, Antonia Angelova (80’ Teodora Paraskevova), Elizabet Velkova, Preslava Yordanova (80’ Iveta Andreycheva), Nadezhda Ivanova, Viktoria Tsvetkova (67’ Preslava Ivanova), Aleksandra Sergeeva
Referee: Raiden Psaila
Pamela Raycheva, Yoana Borisova, Yoana Mileva
Referee – Raiden Psaila