Valletta's defender Enmy Pena Beltre scored a stunning goal for the Dominican Republic in their Concacaf Nations League tie against Bermuda, to put his nation ahead inside the first couple of minutes.
Great goal by Enmy Peña pic.twitter.com/lcuj8E8MPy
— Nuno Paiva ➡️ #PaxEast (@nlpaiva) 24 March 2019
Pena Beltre lobbied the ball over the goalkeeper from an impossible angle to put his team ahead after just two minutes.
However, Bermuda prevailed 3-1 to qualify to the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup for the first time ever while Pena Beltre's country remained out of the competition.
The Dominican Republic will be now playing in League B of the North American Nations League.
In the 2018/2019 season, the 26-year-old Pena Beltre played 19 league games for Valletta whom he joined from St Andrews in January 2018. The defender has a knack for scoring the odd wonder goal. In 2016, he had slalomed past most of the Sliema Wanderers team, before planting the ball in the net.
Meanwhile, his Valletta team-mate Raed Saleh helped Oman win the first edition of the Airmarine Cup after defeating Singaproe 5-4 on penalties, with the Citizen player netting the winning penalty.
Saleh played a key role for Oman in this tournament having scored also in the previous round with his nation emerging winners 5-0 over Afghanistan.
The Oman international featured in 13 championship ties, scoring one and registering three assists this season so far.
It was a fantastic international break for Valletta with Pena Beltre and Saleh scoring for their national teams.
Moreover, Valletta goalkeeper Henry Bonello denied the Faroe Islands from the penalty spot while Kyrian Nwoko and Steve Borg scored Malta's goals in their 2-1 win over the Nordic side in their European qualifications opener last Saturday.