MALTA            0

SLOVAKIA       6

Rusnak 6, 16

Duda 8, 69, 80

De Marco 72

MALTA

H. Bonello, K. Shaw, R. Camenzuli, M. Guillaumier (85 T. Caruana), J. Mbong (85 S. Dimech), P. Mbong (54 B. Kristensen), J. Borg (78 K. Micallef), A. Satariano (54 L. Montebello), C. Attard, T. Teuma, Z. Muscat.

SLOVAKIA

M. Dubravka, L. Satka, L. Haraslin (61 R. Mak), O. Duda, A. Rusnak, T. Suslov, M. Skriniar, M. Koscelnik (77 R. Bozenik), D. Hancko (70 V. De Marco), D. Strelec (61 L. Almasi), S. Lobotka (70 S. Lobotka).

Referee Fran Jovic (Croatia).

Yellow cards Satariano, Camenzuli.

Red card: Camenzuli (M) 47; Teuma (M) 50.

The Malta national team endured another torrid afternoon as they succumbed to a heavy defeat to Slovakia in their final World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium.

After Thursday’s disastrous 7-1 defeat to Croatia there was hope that the Malta national team players would produce a strong reaction to try and complete the qualifying campaign on a positive note, particularly as the team were still with a chance of finishing bottom of the group and amassing a record haul of points in qualifying.

However, any hope from the hope side were extinguished inside the first 16 minutes when the Slovakians surged into a three-goal lead and from then on there was no way back for Devis Mangia’s team.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta