Malta national team coach Karl Izzo and Aquatic Sports Association president Joe Caruana heaped praise on the national team players after they secured their best-ever finish in a European Championship when they saw off Slovenia 13-9 in Split.

The result ensured that Malta will now contest the play-off for 13th place against Germany on Tuesday, but they are still sure of securing their best position in the championship, improving on the 15th place attained in Belgrade in 2016.

“I always said that this was our most important game of the championship as it could give us our best ever finish in such championship,” Izzo said after the match.

“It was not the best performance even because there was a lot of stake for my players and inevitably that affected them a bit. But we showed that we are capable of playing good waterpolo and winning matches in these continental finals.

“I have to congratulate the players. One has to remember that this is a new team with several elements having no experience when playing in such a competition. But we showed that we were capable of playing against them as we were never behind during the match.

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