United For Malta – Mbong brothers reach milestone

It’s not a common occurrence that two brothers play together for the national team but Joseph Mbong and his younger sibling Paul managed to do that in the opening 2020/21 UEFA Nations League Group D1 match against Faroe Islands last Thursday.  It was the first time since 1985 that two brothers had featured for Malta during the same match. Having earned his first senior call-up for the opening UEFA Nations League Group D1 matches, Birkirkara forward Paul Mbong, who has just turned 19, made his international bow for Malta as a second-half substitute for Jurgen Degabriele in Thursday’s 3-2 defeat at the Torsvollur Stadium. His older brother Joseph Mbong, 23, started the game in Torshavn. The two Mbong brothers were also in the Malta squad for the second UEFA Nations League Group D1 match against Latvia at the National Stadium on Sunday. Joseph played the whole match on his 20th Malta appearance, setting up Kyrian Nwoko’s goal in the 1-1 draw, while Paul was an unused substitute. Four pairs of brothers have played together for the national team in the past. The late Eddie Theobald and his brother Louis were in the same Malta team for three matches in the early sixties while Edward Aquilina and his late brother Ritchie played five international games together in the seventies. The Xuereb brothers – Raymond and George – featured in 22 international matches between 1976 and 1984. John and Julian Holland played one international match together – the 1-0 defeat in an away friendly match against Libya. Two other pairs of brothers – Eric and Ronnie Schembri, and Bernard and Malcolm Licari – have represented Malta in international football but not in same match.