Members of the national women’s football team and their leaders paid a courtesy visit to the Minister for Inclusion and Quality of Life Julia Farrugia Portelli and the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and Clifton Grima .
Last year, the women’s national team advanced 16 places in the international standings and today ranks 85th out of 142 countries after finishing fourth in the Euro qualifying group.
Minister Farrugia Portelli praised the determination of Maltese girls in this sport and stated that, “These results show that we are breaking down barriers and being inclusive even when it comes to sport. Football is more associated with male participation but the performances of the women’s national team show that when it comes to inclusivity, even in this field we are on the right track with Maltese players serving as role models for other girls ”.
The national women’s football team played a friendly match with a Dutch women’s team, SCT Gooi, who were in Malta for a training camp and beat them by the score. of 5–0. Three wins and a draw recorded in the last months of last year led to us finishing in fourth place in the group which should be said to have included world-famous teams such as Denmark and Italy. Such results show that despite the small size of our country, once there is the will, determination and seriousness in leadership then success will come even if it is not as high as that of big countries. Our players have shown that they are able to compete not only with our level teams but also at a higher level. Another proof of the determination of our female players is the fact that we have several of them who are currently playing abroad with teams in various European countries.
Minister Farrugia Portelli and Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima wished the Maltese national women’s football team and its directors more success and presented a souvenir of recognition.
Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima wished the successful women’s national team a success and stressed that this achievement puts a burden on their shoulders to step up in the next leagues. “You have the skills and above all you are a model so that the numbers who play women’s football continue to increase. Thanks to the MFA for believing in women’s sports, “concluded the parliamentary secretary.
As a number of players are currently abroad with their respective teams they have been represented by other players on the team and in the squad, Maya Lucia, Nicole Sciberras, Veronique Mifsud, Charlene Zammit, Patricia Ebejer, Emma Xuereb along with directors Frank Schembri, Roger Camilleri, Amanda Dimech and Gianluca Lia.
