The Malta WU19 National Team produced an impressive display on Wednesday night to overpower Saudi Arabia by four goals to nil in the first of two international friendlies.
In this first friendly match of a double header against Saudi Arabia, the Women’s U19 side were looking for a good performance to continue building on their recent progress.
Photo courtesy of Malta FA
Malta started strongly and could have gone ahead in the first minute when Lisa Calleja’s header was cleared off the line. A couple of minutes later it was Kay Axiak who tested Dima Shaikh who managed to save in two attempts.
Malta took the lead on 12 minutes when Grace Madison Cachia finished off after two attempts with Shaikh saving her first effort. The same Cachia had a great chance on 17 minutes when she was in the clear but her shot from inside the box was brilliantly saved by Shaikh.
Malta doubled the lead on 27 minutes with a superb strike by Amy Catania that gave Shaikh no chance. The rest of the half was a quiet affair as Malta continued controlling the match with the away side rarely posing a threat.
Malta missed a glorious chance to score a third on 70 minutes when a cross by Thais Muscat found Calleja who could not hit the target from close range. However, six minutes later, Malta made certain of the win when Cachia pounced on a loose ball to smash into the net, notching her brace and the hosts’ third.
The score became 4-0 on 82 minutes when Catania notched her brace with another fine individual effort. The young Maltese side continued to administer their lead for the final few minutes, registering an impressive victory on home soil.
Malta
Maya Muscat (Raisa Magro, 71’), Amy Catania, Amber Galea, Olivia Nazarko, Lisa Calleja, Grace Madison Cachia, Kay Axiak (Edeson Grixti, 82’), Thais Muscat (Gloria Cassar, 82’), Alanah Ghio, Alys Faye Lucy Wilson (Kristina Zammit, 46’), Lara May Azzopardi
Coach: Melania Bajada
Saudi Arabia
Dima Shaikh, Layan Amir, Aseel Ahmed, Lulu Abdullah (Maha Albadrani, 74’), Zahra Talib (Salma Alzubaidi, 62’), Saba Alyahya (Zahra Jalal, 89’), Lareen Basyoni, Lamar Wael, Lama Thamir, Mawaddah Almaghrabi, Tulin Alghamdi (Lina Eed, 62’)
Coach: Xavier Vilamala
Referee: Kieron Haber