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The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition and as of 12 October 2006 has won only four competitive matches. The first two wins were victories of 2-0 and 2-1 at home to Greece and Iceland in European Championship qualifiers in 1975 and 1982 respectively, and the third came with a 1-0 victory away to Estonia in a 1993 World Cup qualifier.
On 11 October 2006, Malta managed a fourth competitive victory - a 2-1 triumph over Hungary in the European Championship qualifying with Andre Schembri scoring twice.
Other important results were the two draws, 1-1 and 2-2, against Hungary during the qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
During 2005 the Malta national football team obtained some home positive results. Both were 1-1 draws against Croatia and Bulgaria. Another positive result was the 1-1 home draw in a friendly match against Northern Ireland . In 2006, in a friendly against Japan, played for the World Cup Finals preparation in Germany, managed to keep the score to 0-1 despite conceding an early goal.
On 7 February 2007, Malta managed another prestigious draw against one of the hosts of Euro 2008, Austria. The game was played to commemorate the 50th. anniversary of the first international match played by the Maltese national team. The final result was 1-1.
The ever continuing signs of progress were once again witnessed on March the 26th 2008 when Malta thrashed Liechtenstein 7-1 at Ta' Qali, with Michael Mifsud scoring an amazing 5 goals.
The team is sponsored by Diadora.
[edit] Competition history
[edit] World Cup record
[edit] European Championship record
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
The current team squad, to play Austria on May 30, 2008.
| No. |
Pos. |
Player |
DoB (Age) |
Caps |
Goals |
Club |
| Goalkeepers |
| 1 |
GK |
Justin Haber |
June 9, 1981 (1981-06-09) (age 27) |
26 |
0 |
 Haidari |
| 12 |
GK |
Andrew Hogg |
March 2, 1985 (1985-03-02) (age 23) |
4 |
0 |
 Valletta |
| Defenders |
| 2 |
DF |
Jonathan Caruana |
July 24, 1986 (1986-07-24) (age 21) |
0 |
0 |
Hibernians |
| 3 |
DF |
Ian Azzopardi |
August 12, 1982 (1982-08-12) (age 25) |
33 |
0 |
Sliema Wanderers |
| 4 |
DF |
Brian Said |
May 15, 1973 (1973-05-15) (age 35) |
81 |
5 |
Sliema Wanderers |
| 6 |
DF |
Luke Dimech |
January 11, 1977 (1977-01-11) (age 31) |
56 |
1 |
Unattached |
| 8 |
DF |
Roderick Briffa |
August 24, 1981 (1981-08-24) (age 26) |
29 |
0 |
Sliema Wanderers |
| 14 |
DF |
Shaun Bajada |
October 19, 1983 (1983-10-19) (age 24) |
3 |
0 |
Birkirkara |
| 15 |
DF |
Josef Mifsud |
September 7, 1984 (1984-09-07) (age 23) |
5 |
0 |
Valletta |
| Midfielders |
| 7 |
MF |
Gilbert Agius |
February 21, 1974 (1974-02-21) (age 34) |
107 |
8 |
Valletta |
| 10 |
MF |
Cleaven Frendo |
July 1, 1985 (1985-07-01) (age 22) |
6 |
1 |
Marsaxlokk |
| 11 |
MF |
George Mallia |
October 10, 1978 (1978-10-10) (age 29) |
60 |
5 |
Birkirkara |
| 16 |
MF |
Ryan Fenech |
April 20, 1986 (1986-04-20) (age 22) |
2 |
0 |
Ħamrun Spartans |
| 18 |
MF |
Jamie Pace |
January 1, 1977 (1977-01-01) (age 31) |
20 |
2 |
Marsaxlokk |
| 23 |
MF |
Udo Nwoko |
October 15, 1984 (1984-10-15) (age 23) |
6 |
0 |
 Leixões |
| Forwards |
| 5 |
FW |
Etienne Barbara |
June 10, 1982 (1982-06-10) (age 26) |
20 |
3 |
Sliema Wanderers |
| 9 |
FW |
Michael Mifsud |
April 17, 1981 (1981-04-17) (age 27) |
56 |
19 |
 Coventry City |
| 13 |
FW |
Andre Schembri |
May 26, 1986 (1986-05-26) (age 22) |
17 |
3 |
 Eintracht Braunschweig |
|
[edit] Recent Call-Ups
The following players have also been called up to the Malta squad in 2008.
- Goalkeepers
- Defenders
- Midfielders
- Strikers
[edit] Results and Fixtures
-
Main article: List of official matches of the Maltese national football team
[edit] Famous past and present players
|
|
|
- Jeffrey Chetcuti
- David Cluett
- Darren Debono
- Michael Degiorgio
- Luke Dimech
- Edwin Farrugia
- Emanuele Farrugia
- Joseph Galea
- Martin Gregory
|
|
|
|
|
[edit] Most capped Maltese players
| # |
Name |
Career |
Caps |
Goals |
| 1 |
David Carabott |
1987 - 2005 |
121 |
12 |
| 2 |
Carmel Busuttil |
1982 - 2001 |
111 |
23 |
| 3 |
Gilbert Agius |
1993 - present |
107 |
8 |
| 4 |
Joe Brincat |
1988 - 2004 |
103 |
5 |
| 5 |
John Buttigieg |
1984 - 2000 |
95 |
1 |
| 6 |
Silvio Vella |
1988 - 2000 |
90 |
1 |
| 7 |
Brian Said |
1996 - present |
81 |
5 |
| 8 |
Michael Degiorgio |
1981 - 1992 |
74 |
4 |
| 9 |
Hubert Suda |
1988 - 2003 |
70 |
8 |
| 10 |
Jeffrey Chetcuti |
1994 - 2005 |
69 |
0 |
| 11 |
Raymond Vella |
1984 - 1992 |
67 |
1 |
- Players in bold denote the player is still available for selection.
[edit] Top Maltese goalscorers
- Players in bold denote the player is still available for selection.
[edit] Malta managers
- Correct as of November 15, 2007.[1][2]
| Manager |
Nationality |
Malta career |
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Win % |
| Joe A. Griffiths |
|
1957 - 1961 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
33.3 |
| Carm Borg |
|
1961 - 1964 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
| Janos Bedl |
 |
1966 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
Janos Bedl
Tony Formosa |
|
1966 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
| Joe Attard |
|
1969 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Saviour Cuschieri |
|
1970 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Carm Borg |
|
1970 - 1971 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
| Tony Formosa |
|
1971 - 1973 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
0 |
| Victor Scerri |
|
1973 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
50 |
| Terrenzio Polverini |
 |
1974 - 1976 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
11.1 |
| John Calleja |
|
1976 - 1978 |
11 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
18.8 |
| Victor Scerri |
|
1978 - 1983 |
26 |
3 |
3 |
20 |
? |
| Guentcho Dobrev |
 |
1984 - 1987 |
21 |
1 |
4 |
16 |
4.7 |
| Horst Heese |
|
1988 - 1991 |
36 |
3 |
8 |
25 |
8.3 |
| Pippo Psaila |
|
1991 - 1993 |
17 |
5 |
4 |
8 |
29.4 |
| Pietro Ghedin |
|
1993 - 1995 |
24 |
4 |
5 |
15 |
16.6 |
| Robert Gatt |
|
1996 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Milorad Kosanović |
 |
1996 - 1997 |
15 |
0 |
2 |
13 |
0 |
| Josif Ilić |
|
1997 - 2001 |
41 |
5 |
4 |
32 |
? |
| Sigfried Held |
|
2001 - 2003 |
21 |
4 |
5 |
12 |
? |
Horst Heese
Carmel Busuttil |
|
2003 - 2005 |
15 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
? |
| Horst Heese |
|
2005 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
? |
| Dušan Fitzel |
 |
2006 - present |
18 |
1 |
3 |
14 |
? |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Spain 12 - 1 Malta 
