Spain 14
Malta 3

(3-1, 3-0, 7-1, 1-1)

An improved performance from the Maltese team at the European Championships was still not enough to avoid defeat against Spain in a Last 16 ranking match in Belgrade, yesterday.

In the build-up to this game, national coach Karl Izzo had called on his team to show more aggressiveness in their play following a below-par display against Croatia on Thursday.

And the players duly responded with a sprightly showing that denied the powerful Spaniards a goal bonanza and morale booster ahead of their quarter-final against either Romania or Greece tomorrow.

Albert Espanol, Roger Tahull and Blai Mallarach were the game’s leading scorers with three goals each. Niki Lanzon, Matthew Zammit and Aurelien Cousin hit back for Malta.

“The response from the team was excellent following our poor showing against Croatia,” Izzo told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“Spain are among the major contenders here and they’re also eyeing qualification to Rio in summer. However, we did well to contain their fast counter-attacks and in attack, we were more effective this time.

“Jerome Gabaretta and John Brownrigg had a great match in the centre as Matthew Zammit had to be withdrawn after committing two fouls early on.

“Our only regret was the third session where Spain profited as we lowered our guard.

“But in the last quarter, our level of play was almost equal to theirs.”

Izzo is now hoping his team can maintain this positive attitude in their next championship matches, starting tomorrow against the losers of the Romania-Greece tie.

“We have three more classification matches to play, so we need to stay in shape, physically and mentally,” he said.

“I’m sure this performance against Spain will instill more confidence in our players for the rest of the tournament.”

Malta: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon 1, J. Gabaretta, N. Bugelli, M. Meli, M. Zammit 1, S. Camilleri, J. Camilleri, J. Brownrigg, A. Cousin 1, B. Plumpton, D. Zammit, N. Grixti.

Other results: Montenegro vs France 11-6; Serbia vs Slovakia 10-5; Croatia vs Netherlands 16-9.

Playing today: 9.30 Italy vs Turkey; 17.15 Hungary vs Georgia; 18.45 Romania vs Greece; 20.15 Russia vs Germany.

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