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Hibernians Women’s Team – The sole club in Europe representing Malta

Published: 05-08-2015 10:45
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Gianluca Lia Following the Maltese clubs’ eliminations from the UEFA Men’s club competitions despite the positive results obtained by Hibernians FC and Birkirkara FC, Hibernians Women’s Team will be the last team representing Malta in the 2015/2016 UEFA competitions. On the 11th of August they will embark on their 2nd European journey for only the 2nd time in their history. Last season they almost marked their debut in the UWCL with a historic result as they were conducting the match against Raheny by 1-0 until the half-time and were drawing 1-1 until the final minutes of match. Eventually, the Irish champions went on to win this encounter and also topping their qualifying group. In this year’s edition, the Paolites will be facing their Maltese compatriot Rachel Cuschieri as they were drawn with Cypriot dominant force Apollon Ladies. Accompanying them in their Group 3 qualifying stage there will be Icelandic Champions Stjarnan and also Faroese Champions Klaksvik Kvinnur. Coach Keith Gouder indicated this adventure as tougher than the previous one but on the other hand he is confident that his team can put on impressive displays against these top clubs. He also stressed the fact that this is an important week for his girls as they will be experiencing professional football for the whole week. An important week ahead for the Paolites’ girls who will give their all to show that they will not be in Cyprus as tourists, but will fight for every ball and will strive towards a historic point.  Apollon Ladies:The Cypriot champions were formed prior the 2007 and a couple of years later they were already crowned champions of Cyprus. It is one of the best clubs in Cypriot’s history of female football and currently they can be considered as a powerhouse in the domestic scene as they have been dominating the league since 2008/2009. They have also won the domestic double for 4 times including last season where Maltese international Rachel Cuschieri was the leading goal-scorer in domestic league with 24 goals. Apollon Ladies are not newcomers in this competition and they immediately left a good impression in the UWCL when they eliminated twice European champion Umea IK in their just second appearance. They progressed the qualifying stage in their last 5 appearances with last year being eliminated by the then semi-finalists Brondby IF. Stjarnan Women:Icelandic Champions Stjarnan will be participating in their 3rd UWCL edition following their participation in 2012/2013 and 2014/2015 campaigns where they eliminated by 2 different Russian clubs in the last 32 round. Stjarnan won the domestic title 3 times and although they had to bid farewell to Marta Cassini, an Italian female player who had a tremendous season last year, they are still considered as the team to beat alongside Apollon Ladies. KI Klaksvik Kvinnur:KI Klaksvik Kvinnur will be doing a record of 15 appearances in the UWCL, a feat who neither team in Europe has managed to reach. Their first participation dates back in the 2001/2002, in the newly-inaugurated UEFA Women’s Cup where they had also managed to earn 3 points against the Austrians of USC Landhaus Vienna. Founded in 1985, Klaksvik is the most successful team in the Faroese history, winning the previous 15 domestic league titles. The Faroese team contain several components of the Faroes Women’s National Team who also were present on Maltese soil back in April when they eliminated Malta from the UEFA Women’s Euro Qualifying Group. Captain Malena Josephsen and Rannva Andreasen will be familiar faces to the Maltese players who were part of that heart-breaking loss. Hibernians Women’s Team’s fixtures 11th August:vs Stjarnan Women at 18:00 CET (19:00 local time) at Paphiakos Stadium, Paphos. 13th August:vs Apollon Ladies at 19:00 CET (20:00 local time) at Paphiakos Stadium, Paphos. 16th August:vs KI Klaksvik Kvinnur at 18:00 CET (19:00 local time) at Municipal Geroskipou Stadium, Paphos.