Maltese football wonderkid Haley Bugeja has been named among UEFA’s top 10 female football players to watch out for in 2021.
Bugeja, 16, is the youngest player on the UEFA list, which features footballers from all across Europe.
UEFA cited Bugeja’s record-breaking hattrick for Malta against Georgia in November in its nomination. The young striker scored all three of Malta’s goals that match, becoming the youngest women’s footballer in history to score a hattrick in an UEFA qualifier, doing so at the age of 16 years and 205 days.
She has been equally prolific with her club team Sassuolo, scoring a brace on her debut against Napoli and wowing fans with some stunning individual strikes.
Bugeja signed for Sassuolo this past summer, transferring to the Italian club from Mġarr United after winning the 2019 Malta Football Association women’s player of the year award.