A wild swing in Andorra la Vella
Malta won 2-1 away to Andorra on Thursday at the Estadi de la FAF in the opening round of the Nations League. Guillaume Lopez took advantage of a spilled save from Malta keeper Henry Bonello to open the scoring in the 17th minute. Irvin Cardona levelled with a volley in the 36th minute, after a cross from Teddy Teuma. Teuma then struck again in the 81st minute, finishing off a pass from Brandon Paiber to put Malta ahead for good.
The closing stages were tense. In the 85th minute, Ilyas Chouaref missed the chance to kill the contest stone dead: his penalty soared over the bar after he was brought down in the box. It did not stop Malta hanging on to the lead until the final whistle, in front of just 905 spectators in Encamp.
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Teuma, captain and matchwinner
The Malta captain continues to justify a status he has built over several seasons with this modest international side. Under head coach Emilio De Leo, Malta have shown steady progress over the past two years in this competition, having still been in League D not too long ago. Away wins are rare for teams like this, and Malta had not won on the road in the Nations League for several campaigns.
Andorra, meanwhile, have been blunt in attack for years, but they made the perfect start through Lopez. After that, the script went as expected, with Malta the stronger side over the course of the match.
A positive start for two small nations
This result counts twice for Malta, who bank three valuable points in a tight group. It is the ideal start to the campaign, driven by a captain who keeps adding to the recent history of his national team.
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