The Maltese national waterpolo team ended their first qualification tournament in the LEN Euro 2016 Championship in Utrecht, last weekend, having suffered two clearcut defeats against France, 21-4, and against hosts and eventual group winners the Netherlands, 19-11, and recording a 36-1 victory against punching balls Latvia in their last group match on Sunday.

This came only a few days after Karl Izzo and his team were voted respectively as coach and team of the year in the 2014 Sport Malta Awards, having obtained creditable victories when finishing second in the Commonwealth Championships and winning two tournaments in Ireland in March and at home in October last year.

There was no need of a deep analysis into what went wrong in Utrecht.

France, and to a lesser extent the Netherlands, two teams in the second tier of Europe’s rankings, were too good for us. Only that this time we suffered a heavier defeat against the French than we did last year and then we were unable to emulate the drawn result against the Dutch in a friendly home tournament.

It is clear that there are at least 12 European teams that are beyond our reach in this sport.

Crossing that bridge has so far been prohibitive for us as the expanse is too wide for our lads to muster.

The only consolation is that although Malta’s resources are limited, we enjoy a healthy middle position in the continental hierarchy above other bigger nations.

Still, in my opinion, we have to work harder to improve.

Playing out of season, the team’s string pulling was not enough this time, with Steve Camilleri, 18 goals, his brother Jordan, nine, Michele Stellini, seven, being the pick of our scorers.

They were followed by Matthew and Dino Zammit, five and four respectively, while the other four marksman were Daniel Paolella, three, Michael Rizzo and Peter Borg, two each, and Mark Meli, one.

Coach Izzo was far from happy with the team’s performance against France.

“My players’ blip in concentration gave our superior opponents a clearer edge than was otherwise envisaged,” he told Times of Malta.

“We threw in the towel far too early, conceding soft goals. We missed some clear occasions and all seven man-ups.

“Eventually, the gap widened as the match progressed.”

He was definitely in better mood when Malta played the Netherlands on Saturday.

“Against the Dutch we showed battling qualities and kept close to the much-improved hosts until ends were changed. After that fatigue crept in and with our opponents showing better skills when in possession and more accuracy within firing distance, we threw in the towel,” he opined.

“But, all in all, I was happy with the boys despite bearing the brunt of some referees’ decisions.”

Consolation win

Izzo said that the match against Latvia was a good opportunity to give some playing time to a number of fringe players.

“The match against Latvia, which gave me the opportunity to rest Niki Lanzon, Matthew Zammit, Mark Meli and Alan Borg Cole, provided some sort of consolation even if the Latvians were considered as very soft opposition after having conceded 127 goals in three matches,” he said.

“But at least the team with some new faces, including Michael Rizzo and Niki Grixti, rolled in the goals for a decisive victory.”

The handicap of having to play out of season while our rivals were in the middle of their respective leagues could never be dismissed.

“Our preparation only started in the first week of January. We only managed to play five friendly matches,” Izzo said.

“Furthermore, we were drawn in the toughest group against two teams replete with professional players in Europe’s top leagues.

“We should now concentrate on the next qualification tournament group matches between October 9 and 11 which we will host.

“We hope to have a favourable draw so that we can somewhat make up lost ground at a time when the lads will be in better tactical and physical shape than they were in Utrecht.

“Meanwhile, I look ahead to the forthcoming 8 Nations Tournament in Denmark from March 20 and 22 where I intend to introduce more new players in preparation for the October qualifiers.”

Final standings

Group A: Slovakia 9 (goal difference +29); Georgia 6 (29); Portugal 3 (-21); Switzerland 0 (-37).

Group B: Russia 9 (45); Poland 6 (-1); Israel 3 (-24); Ukraine 0 (-20).

Group C: Netherlands 9 (63); France 6 (53); Malta 3 (10); Latvia 0 (-127).

Group D: Germany 9 (35); Turkey 6 (9); Belarus 3 (-10); Lithuania 0 (-34).

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