Valletta Lions claimed the runners-up spot at the Milan Grand Prix recently after losing against the second-ranked Wiener Neustadt, from Austria, 8-7 on goal difference.

The tie had ended in a 2-2 draw.

A total of 27 teams competed in this tournament with the Lions being one of the seeded sides in group five.

The Lions topped their pool with maximum points, beating CTS Genova and Trento 4-0 and SC Grosseto 2-1 to progress to the Last 16.

After knocking out Atletico Vibo 3-0, the Valletta team saw off Pierce 14 Monferrato in the quarter-finals. They won on goal difference after the match finished 2-2.

In the semi-finals, the Lions emerged on top from a hard-fought game against Italian side Warriors Torino, winning 3-1 to secure their place in the final where they narrowly missed out on the title after their slender defeat to Wiener Neustadt.

The team was made up of Mark Gauci (captain), Angelo Borg, Joseph Mifsud, Portuguese player Vasco Gui-maraes and Englishman Justin Finch.

Individual title

In the individual tournament Guimaraes won the title after beating World Cup winner Jose Noguera, from Spain, 2-1 in the final.

The next international commitment for Valletta Lions is the Major Tournament in Rome, to be held in late January.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.