Karl Izzo enjoyed a winning debut as national coach as Malta opened their commitments in the European Championship qualifiers with a sound 16-8 win over Portugal in Odense yesterday.

Inspired by the goalscoring instincts of Steve Camilleri, the Maltese surged into a commanding 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The second was more balanced but the Maltese still edged it 4-3 to go 10-3 ahead at the interval. On the restart, Izzo’s men seemed to ease off as the Portuguese won the third session 3-2 to bridge the gap to 12-6. But the Maltese quickly regained the initiative to win the last session 4-2 and wrap up a 16-8 win.

Camilleri was the game’s top scorer with seven goals while skipper Niki Lanzon bagged four. The other scorers for Malta were Mark Meli (2), Matthew Zammit, Michele Stellini and Timmy Sullivan.

Today, Malta face group favourites Russia at 12.30pm before taking on hosts Denmark at 8 pm.

Other result: Israel vs Bulgaria 17-6.

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