MALTA 0LATVIA 1 Malta began their commitments in this year’s Aphrodite Cup with a 1-0 defeat against Latvia today.Olga Sevcova’s eighth-minute goal proved enough for the Latvians to edge the Maltese girls in what was also a clash between the two national teams currently sharing 96th position in the FIFA women rankings.
Mark Gatt’s girls had a glorious opportunity to salvage a draw as they were awarded a penalty in the closing stages but Rachel Cuschieri’s effort was saved amid the disappointment of the Maltese contingent. Malta’s hopes of containing Latvia’s early pressure suffered a blow when, after just eight minutes Sevcova slotted the ball confidently past Janice Xuereb. Gatt’s side replied on 23 minutes, Charlene Zammit sending her header over the crossbar. Both teams had a couple of scoring opportunities before half-time but the two goalkeepers were equal to the task. After the change of ends, Latvia almost doubled their lead but Xuereb made a timely intervention to halt a dangerous attack. At the other end, Martina Borg wasted a good opportunity to level matters. In the dying minutes, Malta appeared to gain a boost when they won a penalty but Apollon Ladies midfielder Rachel Cuschieri was denied by the opposing goalkeeper. From the rebound, Borg failed to turn the ball into the net. Malta’s second game at the Aphrodite Cup is against hosts Cyprus on Monday. MALTA’S LINE-UPJanice Xuereb, Ann-Marie Said, Kim Parnis, Stephania Farrugia, Dorianne Theuma (57 Martina Borg), Ylenia Carabott (70 Kelly Agius Pace), Rachel Cuschieri, Shona Zammit (46 Gabriella Zahra), Jade Flask, Charlene Zammit, Brenda Borg (46 Alishia Sultana).