June 2001

Fri 29

• An MFA women's league selection recently took participated in an International Football Tournament organised by Polisportivo Fortitudo of Mozzecane, Italy. Taking part besides Malta were three Italian teams - Bardolino (Serie A), Mantova (Serie B) and Fortitudo (Serie C), Slogo of Yugoslavia and Inchicore College - Dublin of Ireland. Malta managed to win one game against Inchicore 2-1. The Maltese selection was unlucky to lose two games on penalties after two draws - against Fortitudo 0-0 and Slogo 0-0. Malta lost the other two matches against Mantova 0-2 and Bardolino 0-1. In the match for 5th/6th place, Malta defeated Inchicore 2-0.

Thu 28

• Valletta and Pisa have reached an agreement over the transfer Gilbert Agius to the Italian Serie C1 side on loan for one season. It seems that Valletta will receive about Lm20,000 for a year's loan. Pisa will then have an option to sign Agius on a definite transfer.

Wed 27

• The chances of Gilbert Agius joining Italian Serie C1 side Pisa could be fading out as Valletta and Pisa failed to reach an agreement over the transfer of the Maltese international striker on a one year loan. Pisa were offering Lm7,000 for one year and Lm70,000 for a definite transfer. A final decision is expected to be taken on Wednesday.

Mon 25

• Manchester United has dipped its fingers down under, signing a deal with the Parramatta Melita Eagles to develop young talent and in turn has handed two Sydney teenagers a trial at Old Trafford in August. Chris Camilleri, 15, and Liam Curran, 16, will get the opportunity of a lifetime thanks to the five-year deal which sets the Eagles as Manchester United's sole representative in Oceania. The pair will attend United's new training complex at Carrington in Manchester for a minimum of three weeks, which could stretch to six depending on their performance.

  Camilleri, from Greystanes, who described himself as an attacking midfielder, said he was "shocked" to be picked but wanted to make the most of it. "I want to make the Manchester United under-17s, then the second team but I also want to play for my country," he said. Curran, a goalkeeper from Five Dock, said he thought his Dad was joking when he first told him the news. "If you want to play against the best you have to go overseas," he said.

  Chairman of the academy management council Don Allan said the boys will train with the United under-17s squad. "They have the opportunity to show Manchester United what their made of and hopefully they can go from there," he said. Up to four boys will be selected each year from close to 100 who attend the Academy. Allan described the deal as a "win-win situation for everyone" and was not concerned about Australia losing its best young players. "We're devoting so much time and effort with the players and some will go to Manchester United, some will end up elsewhere in the world and some will end up here in the National League," he said.

  The issue of Socceroo availability was also hosed down, with Eagles president Doris Drewery saying national representation would come first. "If these boys get selected for national duties then that gets priority and [United Manager] Sir Alex Ferguson agreed with us 100 per cent on that," she said. She also said the deal would not affect the Eagles' relationship with National Soccer League club Parramatta Power, which has sponsored the Eagles for close to six years.

Sun 24

• Sliema Wanderers and Kaiserslautern reached an agreement over the transfer of striker Michael Mifsud to the German side on loan for one year. He will be joining the first team which is coached by former international Andreas Brehme. If the young Maltese striker fails to make an impact in the first team, he will have the chance to play for the second team of Kaiserslautern which plays in the Regionalliga (Third Division). Mifsud therefore becomes the third national team player to join a foreign club after Stefan Giglio and Chucks Nwoko who joined CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria last year.

Sat 23

• UEFA Intertoto Cup - First Round Second Leg Hibernians vs Zaglebie Lubin 1-0

New national coach Sigi Held addressing the press-conference Photo © Copyright 2001 domenic aquilina - malta

New national coach Sigi Held was presented to the media after signing a two-year deal with the MFA. Held said the the appointment as Malta coach was of great honour for him. He said that this was a big challenge and he intended working hard. He said that since he does not know the players, for the time being there will be no changes in the squad but players' call-ups will be depending on their performances and their will to work hard. Discipline and hard work in fact are considered by him as the two most important aspects. The team will be training three times a week, mornings and afternoons. Meanwhile Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia, who acted as assistant coach to Josif Ilic, has not been confirmed. Held said that these matters still have to be discussed. Sigi Held will be conducting the first training session on the 9th July. Between the 19th July and the 1st August, he will be taking the team for a training camp in Germany while his first official game at the helm of the national team will be against Bosnia-Hercegovina in Sarajevo.

• The Annual General Meeting of the Malta Football Association will be held on the 28th July. Besides the election of the President, three Vice-Presidents and and Honorary Treasurer for a period of three years, there will be the election of the Executive Committee of the association for next year. MFA assistant-treasurer and stadium manager, George Micallef will be acting as treasurer in the absence of Honorary Treasurer Norman Darmanin Demajo and will oversee the preparation of the accounts in view of the AGM. Darmanin Demajo had failed to attend executive committee and council meetings since the extraordinary general meeting in November.
• MFA President Dr Joe Mifsud will be meeting the Premier League Clubs' Standing Committee to discuss the TV rights' contract for the national team`s matches which the PLCSC claims that is better than the one signed by Mifsud with Swiss company CWL.
• Marsa midfielder Simon Aquilina was suspended for two months, starting on the 18th August, after testing positive in a doping test. two-month suspension after he tested positive for a banned substance. According to MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud, the board took into account the fact that Aquilina had taken the substance to treat a particular medical condition (asthma) and not to improve his performance. Marsa were fined Lm100.

Fri 22

• Champions Valletta were drawn to meet FC Haka of Finland in the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League on the 11th and 18th August. The winner meets Maccabi Haifa of Israel in the Second Qualifying Round which will be held on the 25th July and the 1st August.
  Birkirkara and Sliema faced tough draws against opponents from the East in the Qualifying Round of the UEFA Cup. Sliema Wanderers were drawn to meet SKM Púchor, a relatively unknown club from Slovakia. On the other hand, Birkirkara will be meeting Lokomotiv Tbilisi of Georgia. The first leg will be held on the 9th August and the second leg on the 23rd. Sliema play the first leg at home while Birkirkara play the first game in Tbilisi. On Thursday, the UEFA Club Competitions' Committee Bureau divided the 82 participating clubs into nine groups of eight and one group of ten clubs. Sliema were placed in Group 7 with Grazer AK (Austria), Rapid Bucuresti (Romania), SKM Púchor (Slovakia) and Lovech (Bulgaria) and the unseeded teams FK Atlantas (Lithuania), Longford Town FC (Ireland) and HB Tórshavn (Faroe Islands). Birkirkara were placed in Group 10 together with AEK Athens (Greece), NK Varteks (Croatia), MŠK Ruzomberok (Slovakia), Olympiakos Nicosia FC (Cyprus) and Lokomotiv Tbilisi (Georgia) and the unseeded teams Belshina Bobruisk (Belarus), Vaduz (Liechtenstein), Grevenmacher (Luxembourg) and the runner-up of Hungary (a team which is still unnamed as the championship is still being played).
• Gilbert Agius was voted Footballer of the Year 2000/01 to crown a most successful season after helping Valletta win the six honours at stake - the Premier League Championship, the Rothmans Trophy, the Super Cup, the Air Malta Centenary Cup, the Lowenbrau Cup and the Super 5 Competition. This was the second time in four years that Agius won this honour after claiming it in season 1996/97. Agius obtained 49.8 points, and was followed by Michael Mifsud (Sliema W.) with 43.49 and Jeffrey Chetcuti (Valletta) with 36.57.
  The winners of the other honours were: Best Players - First Division: Simon Agius (Lija Athletic), Second Division: Martin Pace (Zebbug Rangers), Third Division: Victor Gatt (Senglea Athletics), Youths: Lee Grima (Valletta) and Women: Annmarie Vella (Mosta).
  Top scorers: Premier League: Michael Mifsud (30 goals); Division I: Kevin Loughborough (St Patrick, 12); Division II: Stephen Said (S. Venera, 18); Division III: Victor Gatt (Senglea, 18).
  Fair Play Award - Overall: Luqa St. Andrew's, Premier: Valletta, First Division: Marsaxlokk, Second Division: Mellieha, Third Division: Fgura United, Reserves League: Dingli Swallows, Youth League: Birzebbuga St. Peter's and Women's League: Rabat Ajax. Ballboys Premier: Sliema and Ballboys First: Mosta.

Thu 21

• Malta's two defeats against Iceland and Denmark pushed Malta further down in the FIFA World Rankings as published on Wednesday. Malta now lies in the 133rd place, three places down since last month and fourteen places down since December. Since then Malta suffered defeats to Sweden, twice to Denmark and twice to Iceland. This is the worst placing ever for the national team since 1994 when FIFA started publishing the rankings for the first time. In December 1997, when Malta was coached by Milorad Kosanovic, a similar low ranking was registered. Ahead of Malta are St Kitts & Nevis, St Vincent/Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Swaziland while Sierra Leone, Burundi and Hong Kong lie behind. Among the other European countries, Malta is behind the Faroe Islands (119th) and Azerbaijan (121st) but ahead of Luxemburg (144th), Andorra (145th), Liechtenstein (148th) and San Marino (158th).
• The transfer of Chucks Nwoko to a club in Dubai has fallen through. Birkirkara chairman Victor Zammit was reported in the official club site as saying that although Nwoko had managed to obtain a visa, the deal which involved three Bulgarian players was cancelled as these failed to obtain the visa. Nwoko and his agents will now consider other offers, mainly from Greece and Germany.

Wed 20

• The three presidents of the clubs who will be taking part in the main UEFA competitions will be travelling to Geneva for the draws of the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League and the Qualifying Round of the UEFA Cup. Joe Caruana Curran, Robert Arrigo and Victor Zammit will be representing Valletta, Sliema and Birkirkara respectively for next Friday's draws which will be held at 1200CET at the Noga Hilton Hotel, Geneva. None of the local sides were seeded and therefore are expected to meet stronger sides. The teams against which Valetta could be drawn are Levski Sofia (Bulgaria), FC Skonto (Latvia), Torpedo Kutaisi (Georgia), Haka (Finland), KR Reykjavík (Iceland), Bohemian FC (Ireland), Slavia Mozyr (Belarus), FBK Kaunas (Lithuania), Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) and Barry Town (Wales). Two years ago, Valletta had eliminated Barry Town while Skonto Riga had defeated Valletta five years ago. Reykjavik eliminated Birkirkara last year in the Champions League.

  The possible opponents for Sliema Wanderers and Birkirkara in the UEFA Cup are AEK Athens (Greece), Club Brugge (Belgium), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Grazer AK (Austria), Brøndby (Denmark), Rapid Wien (Austria), Helsingborgs IF (Sweden), NK Varteks (Croatia), NK Osijek (Croatia), Gaziantepspor (Turkey), Viking (Norway), Legia Warszawa (Poland), Marítimo (Portugal), St. Gallen (Switzerland), Rapid Bucuresti (Romania), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), Kilmarnock (Scotland), Standard Liège (Belgium), CSKA Kyiv (Ukraine), HJK Helsinki (Finland), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia), Dinamo Bucuresti (Romania), Debreceni (Hungary), Elfsborg (Sweden), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel), Polonia Warszawa (Poland), Pogon Szczecin (Poland), FC Midtjylland (Denmark), Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), Brasov (Romania), Obilic (Yugoslavia), Apollon Limassol (Cyprus), Ruzomberok (Slovakia), Puchov (SCK), Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Israel), Lovech (Bulgaria), Gorica (Slovenia) and Olympiakos Nicosia (Cyprus).

  The three local clubs hope to meet one of the smaller clubs in order to advance to the next round which would therefore mean a much higher income. Champions League matches will be played on July 11 and 18 while the UEFA Cup matches are scheduled for the 9 and 23 August.

• Birkirkara FC and Italian Serie A side, Brescia are discussing the possibility of setting up a twinning agreement between the two clubs. Discusions on this matter were held between Birkirkara chairman Victor Zammit and the president of Brescia, Guido Corioni, who is currently in Malta on business commitments. This twinning agreement could lead Birkirkara and Brescia to exchange players or send players for training camps. Corioni is already beleived to have offerered Birkirkara the services of two players for their UEFA Cup comitments, especially if Brescia fail to reach a place in the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto Cup.

Tue 19

• Valletta striker Gilbert Agius is firm favourite to win the MFA Footballer of the Year Award 2000/01. In a preliminary vote, held on Monday at the MFA Headquarters in Valletta, Agius topped the list with 76 points, ahead of Sliema striker Michael Mifsud with 65. The fact that Agius has a regular place in the National team and that he was never sent off means that he we will no receive any penalty points, unlike Mifsud. In the preliminary voting, Michael Spiteri of Birkirkara and Adrian Mifsud of Hibernians received 50 votes each while Valletta defender Jeffrey Chetcuti obtained 44.

Mon 18

• Victor Tedesco is the new Hamrun president after being elected back to the post he occupied in the 80's and early 90's. He replaces Gaetano Debattista who has now been appointed as manager of the Victor Tedesco Stadium. In a first statement, Tedesco said he will be working hard to put Hamrun once again among the elite teams that fight for the title.

Sun 17

• UEFA Intertoto Cup - First Round First Leg Zaglebie Lubin (POL) vs Hibernians 4-0

Fri 15

• The former club of Valletta's Czech midfielder Kamil Dvorak, TJ Sokolobis, is entitled for compensation from Valletta for having signed for the Citizens last season when he was registered for them. This club brought the matter to the attention of FIFA.
• Former Hamrun Spartans president Victor Tedesco will be back in the club's committee and will be assuming a key role in the management of the club alongside president Gaetano Debattista. Tedesco was the president who led Hamrun to winning the major honours in the eighties. He stepped down in 1998.
• The majority of players who formed part of the Birkirkara squad which won the Premier League title 1999/2000 have sent an official letter of complaint to the MFA Players' and Coaches' Complaints Board over the club`s failure to pay them the promised bonuses for winning the championship.

Thu 14

• Hibernians leave Malta today for Poland where they will be facing Zaglebie Lubin in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup First Round on Sunday. Hibs coach Robert Gatt has taken with him a 20-man squad made up of Mario Muscat, Rainier Farrugia, Lawrence Attard, Silvio Vella, Adrian Pulis, Branko Nisevic, Roderick Baldacchino, Aaron Xuereb, Claude Mangion, Wilfred Spiteri, Kevin Cassar, Essien Mbong, Adrian Ciantar, Roger Walker, Mohammed Zarkaoui, Chukunyere Ndubisi, Adrian Mifsud, Stefan Sultana, Miguel Mifsud and Andrew Cohen. The squad includes Moroccan midfielder Mohammed Zarkaoui and defender Lawrence Attard who returns with the club after one year with Xewkija.
• Team A of the Armed Forces of Malta won this year's championship of the football league organised by the Government & Parastatal Sports Association. The competition turned out to be a close battle between the AFM 'A' and the Education, DMS/Ambjent and Maltapost. AFM 'A' played a total of 8 games, winning seven, sharing the points in a draw with Drydocks in the other game. The team scored twenty-three goals and suffered eight. Last season, AFM were runners-up to DMS/Ambjent. Top scorers were Stephen Said and Mark Marlow with five goals each. AFM 'A' defeated Airmalta 4-0 (Marlow 2, Sciberras 2), DMS/Ambjent 2-0 (Said 2), Drydocks 2-2 (Said, Mangion), Education 3-1 (Zammit, Marlow, Duncan), Health 3-2 (Said 2, Mangion), AFM 'B' 2-1 (Marlow, Galea), Maltapost 4-2 (Duncan 2, Pace, Sciberras) and Maltacom 3-0 (Marlow, Sultana, Zammit). AFM 'A' completed the double after winning the Knock-Out, defeating Maltapost 6-4 after the penalty shoot-out. At the end of extra-time, the score was 3-3. This was the third Knock-Out won by AFM in the last three years. Earlier, they had defeated Police 1-0, Customs 2-1 and SVPR Hospital 3-2.
  The AFM 'A' team is made up of number of established players including some who play regularly in the Premier League. The squad is made up of Capt. Ian Ruggier, Lt. Darren Micallef, Gnr Nicholas Muscat, Gnr Alessandro Ciantar, Gnr Noel Botg, Lbdr Mark Attard, Gnr Michael Mangion, Gnr Lawrence Duncan, Gnr Christopher Brimmer, Gnr George Edwards, Gnr Sinclair Douglas, Gnr Kevin Fenech, Gnr Victor Bellia, Gnr Stephen Said, Gnr Carlos Agius, Gnr Charles Sciberras, Gnr Joe Galea, Bdr Anthony Coreschi, Gnr Mark Marlow, Gnr Stephen Pace, Gnr Mark Sultana, Gnr Jeffrey Zammit, Gnr Dominic Cassar and Gnr Keith Portelli.

Wed 13

• Champions Valletta FC yesterday started their pre-season training on Tuesday in view of their forthcoming Champions League matches on July 11 and 18. Bulgarian coach Krassimir Manolov returned to Malta on Monday after a holiday in Bulgaria. He had almost the full squad at his disposal except for John Buttigieg who will be undergoing surgery in his ankles. Also missing were the three foreigners who are expected to be back from holiday in two weeks' time. Meanwhile Valletta have rejected Pisa's first offer for Gilbert Agius, considering it unacceptable. A second offer by the Italian Serie C1 side is expected at the end of the week.
• A local women`s league selection, under the guide of coach Alfred Zammit, will be taking part in a tournament in Mozzecane, Italy which will be held between Friday and Sunday. Five other teams are participating in the tournament: Bardolino and Fortitudo of Italy, FK Sarajevo of Bosnia, Inchicore of Ireland and Sloga of Yugoslavia. Zammit named a squad of 20 players. These are Michelle Zahra, Lesley Ann Galea, Joanne Vella, Dionne Tonna, Sarah Caruana, Dorianne Theuma (Hibernians); Nina Dimech, Maria Coppola, Marthese Camoin, Maria Azzopardi, Roberta Farrugia, Natasha Pace (Melita); Catherine Camilleri, Ingrid Vassallo, Rebecca D' Agostino, Sharon Costantino (Birkirkara); Marisa Deguara, Sadia Mizzi (Mosta); Eleonora Agliano (Raiders); Michelle Scerri (Rabat).

Mon 11

• Valletta striker Gilbert Agius was voted Rothmans Footballer of the Month for May 2001. This was the second time this season after winning this award in March. In May, Agius helped Valletta win the Rothmans Trophy and the Super Cup to increase the tally to six honours this season. Also in May, Gilbert Agius had the opportunity to go for a short trial with Italian Serie C1 side Pisa. Besides Pisa, another Serie C2 club from northern Italy, have expressed interest in his services. He played a friendly match for Pisa, during which several scouts and officials from other Italian clubs, including ones from Serie B clubs, were present. Agius is favourite to win the Footballer of the Year award.

Sun 10

• Carmel Busuttil was the third Sliema player to quit playing football when he was appointed coach of the Malta Under 18 national team. Ernest Barry called it a day this week after the Denmark-Malta game. Martin Gregory had earlier announced his decision to retire. A testimonial match in his honour was played on Saturday between a team made up of Sliema players which won the title in 1988/89 and a team made up of former national team players.

Sat 9

• The MFA sacked national coach Josif Ilic following a meeting of the Executive Committee which was held on Friday night. As expected the new coach is a German. He is former international Siegfried Held. Held played 422 games in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund, Kickers Offenbach and Bayer Uerdingen. He played a total of 41 games for the national team playing in the England 1966 and Mexico 1970 World Cups. His first experience as a coach was with Borussia Dortmund when he guided the team for three weeks. His first appointment was with FC Schalke 04 whom he coached between the start of season 1981/82 and January 1983. The following season, he coached BV Lüttringhausen for the last part of the season, between February and June. On the 13th February 1986, he was appointed as the national coach of Iceland, where he stayed till June 1989. He then moved to Galatasaray where he stayed for one year. In May 1991 he joined Admira-Wacker Vienna, staying for seasons 1991/92 and 1992/93. In July, he returned to Germany to coach Dynamo Dresden. He left the East German club in November 1994 to join Gamba Osaka in the J League in January 1995. After one season, he returned to Germany where he joined VfB Leipzig. His contract was terminated in October 1997. For the past two years he coached the Olympic Team of Egypt. In a statement issued by the association, it is stated that during the meeting, it was decided that it was in the interest of Maltese football and the national team to terminate the contract of Josif Ilic. The MFA thanked Ilic for his service offered for the past four years. Meanwhile the decision to appoint Held may raise some controversy as the popular choice for the job of national team coach was Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia.

Fri 8

• After a great performance against Denmark, national goalie Ernest Barry decided to call it a day. The Sliema goalkeeper said that he had always thought about retiring from domestic and international football after a great performance with the national team abroad which he would remember for ever.

Wed 6

• World Cup Qualifying Round Group 3 Denmark vs Malta 2-1

Tue 5

• UEFA Under 21 Championship Denmark vs Malta 3-0. Malta suffered a 3-0 defeat to Denmark in Odense and once again late goals ruined the performance of Ray Farrugia's players. In fact, after an early goal by Peter Loevenkrands on the 6th, it was only in the last eight minutes that the Danish side added another two goals by Morten Larsen on the 82nd and Hans Henrik Andreasen three minutes from time. Malta's line-up was made up of Justin Haber, Miguel Mifsud, Carlo Mamo, Kenneth Scicluna, Aaron Xuereb, Massimo Grima, Stefan Giglio, William Camenzuli, Anatole Debono (Kevin Sammut), Michael Galea (Andrew Cohen), Matthew Galea.
• Former Germany coach Berti Vogts could be the new coach of the Maltese national team. The 54-year-old Vogts, who was dismissed by Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in May after a disappointing end to the season, is a close friend of MFA Technical Director Horst Heese. Heese seems to have convinced Vogts to become the new coach of the Maltese national team. Vogts had coached Germany between 1990 and 1998, a period during which Germany won the European Championships in 1996. The contract of Josif Ilic expires at the end of June and will definitely not be renewed.
• Top Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern seem keen to sign Malta's top scorer Michael Mifsud. After a one-week trial with the club, an official from Kaiserslautern contacted the MFA Technical Director Horst Heese in order to help them start negotiating with Sliema. Meanwhile scouts from the club were also present in Reykjavik to follow Mifsud.
• Malta faces a most difficult task on Wednesday as they face Denmark at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. The morale of the Maltese players hit rock-bottom following last Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Iceland in Reykjavik. This was the fifth defeat in six games for Malta in the World Cup Qualifiers and also the fifth defeat in the last five outings in which Malta suffered 19 goals, scoring just one. The atmoshpere in the squad is definitely not serene as national coach Josif Ilic once again criticised midfield and especially, Joe Brincat, saying that the Birkirkara midfielder cannot play for the national team in the same way he plays for the Stripes. Apart from David Carabott and Antoine Zahra, who did not travel with the squad due to injuries, Malta will miss Stefan Giglio and Michael Spiteri who were both cautioned and were therefore suspended after receiving the second yellow card. Spiteri will be replaced by Darren Debono, who will be back after a one-match suspension, while Stefan Giglio will be replaced by Sliema's David Camilleri, who did quite well when included as a substitute against Iceland. The line-up is therefore expected to be: Mario Muscat, Brian Said, Noel Turner, Darren Debono, Daniel Theuma, Luke Dimech, Gilbert Agius, David Camilleri, Michael Mifsud, Joe Brincat, George Mallia.

Sat 2

• World Cup Qualifying Round Iceland vs Malta 3-0

Fri 1

• UEFA Under 21 Championship Iceland vs Malta 3-0. Malta Under 21 suffered a 3-0 defeat to Iceland on Friday in a game from the UEFA Under 21 Championship in Reykjavik. Three goals late in the last ten minutes ruined Malta's chances of extending the positive run after two home draws with Denmark and Iceland. Veigar Pall Gunnarsson put Iceland ahead on the 80th minute while Bjarni Gudjonsson doubled the score three minutes from time. Just before the final whistle, Orri Hjatatin scored Iceland's third goal. Malta lined-up as follows: Justin Haber, Mark Anthony Bonnici, Carlo Mamo, Kenneth Scicluna, Aaron Xuereb (Kevin Sammut), Massimo Grima, Rennie Forace, William Camenzuli, Anatole Debono (Miguel Mifsud), Michael Galea, Matthew Galea (Andrew Cohen). Rennie Forace was sent off for Malta.
• Manchester United and Maltese-Australian club, Paramatta (Melita) Eagles, will be forming a partnership. Les Kershaw, Youth Academy director of Man Utd said that the club was planning to have a base in Australia. Parramatta Eagles are located in Sydney, NSW where there are 60% of the youth soccer players in Australia. Melita Eagles had submitted proposals based on a business plan and these proposals were analysed following a visit to Australia by Brian McClair. The former Man Utd player took a good impression, saying that Paramatta Eagles had a first-class youth development scheme. On Wednesday, Doris Drewery, Parramatta Eagles president, together with Don Allan, Paramatta Eagles Youth Coaching Director travelled to England where the two parties will be finalising the negotiations and the contract will be signed.
• The coach of CSKA Sofia, the club with which Stefan Giglio and Chucks Nwoko play, Enrico Catuzzi resigned after he was offered a contract based on performances.
• The final events for the first edition of the Pepsi Under-12 football festivals where held over the last two weekends of May at Ta' Qali training grounds. The festivals were held in collaboration with the Youth Football Association. During the 2000/2001 season, forty nurseries participated in these festivals with games played at different nursery grounds. The Pepsi Under-12 Football Festivals provided the ideal opportunity for budding football enthusiasts to train against other teams made up of players of a similar age. The main aim of the festivals was to provide a healthy atmosphere for the nurseries that promoted participation rather than competition. All participating children received Pepsi gifts during the final event. Pepsi is also donating sports equipment to host and participating nurseries.