The heavy scorelines of the past came back to haunt the Malta national team after the 7-1 defeat at the hands of 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia, on Thursday.
The six-goal deficit defeat followed last month’s 4-0 stumble against Slovenia which marred the Maltese progress in these qualifications.
The Croatia performance has fuelled further disappointment in the general public, in particular due to the technical mistakes and the attitude shown which led to majority of the goals.
It was the first time Malta conceded seven goals on home soil since the 2006 World Cup qualifier against Sweden (0-7) in 2004.