Angola 2
Malta 1

Malta's preparations for Wednesday's daunting clash with World Cup hopefuls Portugal took in a friendly match against Angola last night.

Hopes of a positive result grew when Andrew Cohen fired Malta ahead after 14 minutes but thereafter John Buttigieg's ensemble struggled to match the athleticism, speed and skill of the Africans who managed to overturn the deficit by the 64th minute.

One shudders to think how Malta will cope with Ronaldo and co. in Guimaraes but last night's match served its purpose as a high-tempo warm-up.

Although Malta held tight at the back for long stretches, their attacking movement left much to be desired as the players often resorted to vertical balls from defence to get out of trouble.

Australia-born midfielder John Hutchinson was handed his third start for Malta as Buttigieg made four changes from the 1-0 defeat to Sweden last month.

Hutchinson, who plays his club football with Central Coast Mariners, flanked Jamie Pace in the centre of midfield as captain Gilbert Agius was named among the substitutes.

In defence, Jonathan Caruana was given a chance to press his claim for a first-team berth as he received Buttigieg's nod ahead of Kenneth Scicluna. Veteran Brian Said, Malta's captain yesterday, picked up the other centre-half role while Manny Muscat and Clayton Failla manned the flanks.

The wide midfield roles went to Roderick Briffa (right) and Shaun Bajada (left) with Cohen playing behind Michael Mifsud, the lone striker in Malta's 4-2-3-1 formation.

The meagre crowd at the Estadio Municipal was mainly made up of Angolan fans.

Six minutes into the game, Hutchinson did well to touch the ball away from Stelvio on the edge of the box after Johnson, Angola's gangly striker, had managed to break free of Caruana near the right byline.

When Bajada played a high pass over the Angolan defence, Mifsud raced towards the penalty area to try and retrieve the ball but Angolan goalkeeper Lama rushed out of goal to clear the danger.

The game was 14 minutes old when Malta stunned the Angolans by taking the lead. The goal owed everything to Cohen's persistence as the Hibs stalwart pounced on a miscued pass on the edge of the area, held off a challenge and despatched a curling shot past Lama.

Although Angola enjoyed more possession in the opening stages, Malta stood their ground.

Danger loomed for Malta when Angola won a free-kick just outside the box after Pace was adjudged to have pushed Djalma but Ze Kalanga's free-kick was headed away by the defensive wall.

From the ensuing move, Cohen again relied on his fine skill to hold the ball before guiding a long pass to Mifsud that forced Angola into conceding a corner. As Cohen hit the ball, he was flattened by Dèdè's sliding tackle but Portuguese referee Nuno Gomes applied the advantage rule and gave the Angola midfielder a verbal caution.

Buttigieg was compelled to make his first substitution on 24 minutes after Said suffered a blow to his back. Scicluna replaced Said and the captain's armband was handed to Mifsud.

By now, Angola had established a firm grip on the game. They harried the white-shirted players and strove to exploit their pace and ball skills to pierce Malta's defensive lines.

On 27 minutes, Johnson threatened to level matters when Scicluna's tame backheader sailed towards the leaping Angolan striker but the latter's effort was blocked by Hogg.

The Malta goalkeeper thwarted Angola again when smothering Gilberto's dipping free-kick over the bar. A well-timed tackle by Muscat broke down a potentially dangerous Angola attack after Johnson had raced clear on the right before delivering a pass towards Djalma.

Stelvio became the first player to collect a booking for a late tackle on Cohen who was proving a handful to Angola.

Six minutes from the end of the first half, Angola made it 1-1. Johnson's long pass from midfield soared over the back-tracking Malta defence and into the path of Djalma who surged into the box, avoided the on-rushing Hogg and poked the ball into the unguarded net.

In the closing stages of the first half, Malta briefly interrupted Angola's pressure by forcing two corners. From the first corner, Bajada's swerving cross-shot was palmed away by Lama.

Barely three minutes from the start of the second half had elapsed when Malta missed a glorious opportunity to nose ahead again.

Having traded passes with Failla, Bajada strode forward in the inside-left channel before whipping in an excellent cross that landed at the feet of Cohen at the far post but the latter's first-time volley finished wide.

Angola's riposte was immediate. Hogg repelled Dèdè's thunderbolt but the loose ball fell to Johnson who clipped the upright.

Twelve minutes into the second half, Ryan Fenech and Gilbert Agius came on for Hutchinson and Pace respectively.

Angola continued where they left off in the first half, their forceful play making it hard for Malta to venture out of their half.

Manuel Jose's men went in front for the first time 18 minutes into the second half. Andre, a half-time substitute, caught Hogg's unawares with a thumping drive from long range.

Another fluid Angolan move almost yielded a third goal as Mantorras sped clear on the right before delivering a pass into the goalmouth but, much to Malta's relief, Johnson blasted high.

Nine minutes from time, Malta at last showed up in Angola's half. Failla's cross from the right fell to Mifsud at the far post but the latter's first-time shot was too weak to trouble Lama.

At the other end, Mateus released Mantorras whose limp effort was stopped by Hogg. Lama, the Angolan goalkeeper, blocked Agius's long-range shot as the game opened up in the dying moments.

Angola Lama, Joel, Enoque, Kali, Zè Kalanga ('46 Mantorras), Gilberto, Djalma ('64 Mateus), Johnson ('73 Job), Dèdè ('80 Kivuvu), Mabina ('46 Hernani), Stelvio ('46 Andre).

Malta A. Hogg, J. Caruana, B. Said ('24 K. Scicluna), J. Hutchinson ('57 R. Fenech), R. Briffa ('64 K. Sammut), M. Mifsud, A. Cohen ('70 G. Mallia), C. Failla, E. Muscat, S. Bajada ('70 I. Azzopardi), J. Pace ('57 G. Agius).

Scorers: Djalma 39; Andre 64 (Angola), Cohen 14 (Malta)

Referee: Nuno Almeida.

Yellow cards Stelvio; Hutchinson.

Malta players' ratings

Hogg-6, Caruana-6, Said-5.5, Hutchinson-6, Briffa-5.5, Mifsud-6, Cohen-7, Failla-6.5, Muscat-6, Bajada-6, Pace-5.5. Subs: Scicluna-5.5, Fenech-5.5, Agius-5.5, Sammut-6, Azzopardi-6, Mallia-6.