Malta 2
Hungary 1
\nThe joy that greeted this rare national team victory defies description.
Ecstatic players embraced one another and the fans leapt for joy at the National Stadium as Malta not only garnered their first points of this Euro 2008 campaign but recorded their first home victory in 31 years after Dusan Fitzel's men outsmarted Hungary by the odd goal in three.
An opportunistic double from Andrè Schembri steered Malta to this massively impressive and deserved success against a Hungary team who fought hard but were largely second best to the determined hosts.
Complimenting fighting spirit with constructive football, the red-shirted players managed to inscribe their names in the history of the local game by giving Malta its first competitive victory since the 1-0 away defeat of Estonia in a World Cup qualifier in 1993.
Furthermore, Fitzel, yesterday savouring his first positive result after six straight defeats since taking over as national coach in January, achieved the considerable feat of masterminding Malta's first home win in a competitive match for 31 years, the last one being the 2-0 win over Greece in 1975.
In 1982, Malta were 2-1 winners over Iceland in a European Championship qualifier but this supposedly home match was played in Messina due to a stadium ban.
All the Maltese players performed a key role in this triumph but none caught the eye more than Michael Mifsud whose powerful incursions posed a constant threat to the tottering Hungarian defence.
It was one of Mifsud's twisting runs, seven minutes from half-time, that provided arguably the game's defining moment when Vilmos Vanczak was banished to the dressing rooms for impeding the goalbound Malta striker.
So effective were Malta on the counter that the only surprise was that the team did not win by a bigger margin. However, a sequence of glaring misses was forgotten when the final whistle reverberated around the stadium.
Meanwhile, the two changes from Malta's starting formation in the 2-0 defeat to Turkey last month were enforced on Fitzel by the one-match suspension contracted by Ivan Woods and the hamstring injury suffered a few weeks ago by Ian Ciantar.
Indications that Kenneth Scicluna and George Mallia were the leading candidates to compensate for the absence of Woods and Ciantar were confirmed as the two Birkirkara players were named in the starting line-up.
After Hungary's 1-0 home upset to Turkey last weekend, coach Peter Bozsik saw fit to effect two alterations in his formation.
Debreceni midfielder Leandro and forward Imre Szabics, who plays for FSV Mainz, came on for Laszlo Eger, injured, and Peter Halmosi.
Fitzel's favoured 4-2-3-1 formation had Jamie Pace and skipper Gilbert Agius assuming central positions in midfield while Mifsud played off Schembri's shoulder in attack.
The first scoring chance came Malta's way after 10 minutes. Running on to Kevin Sammut's lay-off, Agius leapt into the air to send a dipping volley which goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly pushed away for a corner.
Three minutes later, the stadium erupted with joy as Malta seized the lead. Chasing a long pass from Brian Said, the speedy Mifsud shook off the diving challenge of Vanczak on the right side of Hungary's penalty area and aimed for goal. The rising effort from the Lillestrom striker surprised Kiraly as it cannoned off the crossbar but Schembri, having followed up the action, was on hand to tap the ball home.
Hungary might have restored parity after 16 minutes but for Justin Haber's save on Csaba Feher and Steve Wellman's subsequent clearance on the encroaching Sandor Torghelle.
After a very brief spell of Maltese pressure, Hungary levelled matters when the stocky Torghelle dashed through and directed a glancing header past Haber following a cross from Stabolcs Huszti.
Mifsud's amalgam of pace, agility and body strength ensured that Malta retained a menacing presence up front. On 25 minutes, he manoeuvred himself into a shooting position but his fierce drive was touched away by Kiraly.
After Agius hit wide with a volley, Hungary stormed forward but Haber twice sprinted out of goal to cut out crosses but the danger would not go away. Much to Haber's relief, Luke Dimech kept his eyes on the ball to deflect Feher's strike from the edge of the box.
Although Hungary were dangerous mainly from their raids down the flanks and Torghelle's towering presence in attack, Malta held their own for most of an entertaining first half.
Maltese hopes of a positive result received a significant tonic when on 38 minutes Hungary were reduced to ten men.
Vanczak was given a straight red card by Belgian referee Johny Ver Eecke after he floored Mifsud as the latter roared forward to collect a perfect Mallia through-ball.
The score should have become 2-1 for Malta on 40 minutes but for an incredible miss by Mifsud who, having again outsprinted the jittery Hungary defence, arrowed his shot wide of the far post with only Kiraly to beat.
Malta should really have edged ahead before the break but Sammut's tap-in, after a low pass by the havoc-wreaking Mifsud, was deflected onto a post and Pace's shot was blocked by Kiraly.
At the other end, Haber prevented Hungary from taking an undeserved lead with a point-blank save from Zoltan Gera.
The referee's half-time whistle triggered a deafening applause from the fans whose satisfaction at the home team's lively display was only tempered by a sense of frustration caused by Malta's inability to convert their late superiority into scoring advantage.
Soon after the restart, Feher's drive flashed against the side-netting.
Six minutes into the second half, Malta regained the lead.
Agius sent a floated pass over the advanced Hungary back line and into the path of Schembri who stepped past Kiraly and slotted the ball into an empty net.
With Hungary's three-man defence looking increasingly culpable, Malta, now brimming with confidence, continued to probe for openings.
Peter Czvitkovics, who had just replaced Szabics, threatened to make an instant impact but his strong drive was pawed away by Haber.
Agius then had another effort deflected away by a Hungary defender after Sammut had profited from an erratic clearance.
Fitzel's first substitution came after 64 minutes when Andrew Cohen came on for Mallia.
Two minutes later, a header from Said, who was outstanding in defence along with Dimech, was saved by Kiraly and Schembri drove wide after being served by Mifsud at the end of another counter-break.
Schembri left the pitch to a rapturous applause as he made way for Terrence Scerri 18 minutes from time. The incoming Hibs forward should have sealed the issue for Malta when the ball rolled in his path after Kiraly had parried another Mifsud attempt but Scerri's strike grazed the near post.
With the end of the game edging closer, the home crowd's enthusiasm slowly made way for tension in anticipation of the final whistle.
But Malta held on for an historic win which has all but ended Hungary's diminishing hopes of qualification for the Euro 2008 finals.
Aftermatch comments
Dusan Fitzel lavished praise on his players after the 2-1 victory over Hungary last night.
"It was an excellent performance from Malta," the Czech coach told reporters. "Taking an early lead helped the players immensely and even though Hungary equalised soon after, the team stayed focused. It was one of those nights when everything just went right for us."
Fitzel acknowledged that Vilmos Vanczak's red card was one of the key episodes of the match.
"The red card was perhaps the turning point of the match," he said.
"It helped to further bolster the players' confidence, especially in attack, but I was also pleased with the way we defended.
"At the start of the second half, my players were still on a high but they only needed a few minutes to realise that they had to concentrate and run hard to gain a positive result."
A disappointed Peter Bozsik, the Hungary coach, said: "It's very difficult for me to speak after this defeat. We made a good start but Michael Mifsud's runs then began to cause big problems for us.
"The red card made our job more difficult and the game was as good as over when Malta scored their second goal."
Malta: J. Haber, B. Said, S. Wellman, L. Dimech, G. Agius ('82 P. Pullicino), K. Scicluna, M. Mifsud, K. Sammut, G. Mallia ('64 A. Cohen), A. Schembri ('72 T. Scerri), J. Pace.
Hungary: G. Kiraly, C. Feher ('77 P. Halmosi), V. Vanczak. R. Juhasz, Leandro ('46 Z. Kiss), B. Toth, I. Szabics ('60 P. Czvitkovics), P. Dardai, S. Torghelle, Z. Gera, S. Huszti.
Referee: J. Ver Eecke (Belgium).
Scorers: Schembri 13, 51; Tor-ghelle 19.
Yellow Card: Sammut.
Red Card: Vanczak 38.
Malta players' ratings
Haber-7.5, Said-7.5, Wellman-6.5, Dimech-7.5, Agius-7.5, Scicluna-6.5, Mifsud-9, Sammut-8, Mallia-7, Schembri-8.5, Pace-7.
Subs: Cohen-6; Scerri-6; Pullicino-6.