After all the euphoria emanating from their 19-5 victory over Lithuania, a sense of reality was knocked back into the Maltese players yesterday.
The day after earning a fourth consecutive qualification for the European Championships, Malta found Romania well beyond their reach when the teams faced each other in the final match of the 2022 LEN European Championships Group C Qualifying round.
The final outcome gave Malta mentor Karl Izzo the size of the task, his side will face in Split, Croatia, this summer.
The superior technical and physical skills of the visitors were evident from the beginning of the match as they gradually built a commanding lead which put them 7-1 ahead by the halfway mark.