Early goals disrupted our gameplan, says Vella

Coach Silvio Vella lamented the two goals Belgium scored in the first half as his Malta U-17 team began their commitments in the UEFA U-17 Championship Qualifying Tournament with a 3-1 defeat to the Group 1 favourites at the Centenary Stadium.  “More or less, the game turned out as we had expected, especially possession-wise as the Belgians saw more of the ball,” Vella told www.mfa.com.mt. “Those early goals shocked us and disrupted our rhythm as we struggled to implement our gameplan.” Yorbe Vertessen put Belgium ahead with a close-range header on 22 minutes and Gabriel Lemoine doubled their advantage 10 minutes later. Lemoine struck again five minutes into the second half to wrap up the three points for Belgium. Malta did rally in the second half and their improved efforts produced a goal, scored by Alexander Satariano 11 minutes from the end. “As the game progressed, our boys found their rhythm as we had been under pressure from the start,” Vella added. “Overall, I thought we struggled with the intensity of the game which is down to the technical gap between the two countries.”