{"id":60070,"date":"2026-09-25T06:44:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=60070"},"modified":"2026-09-25T06:44:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:44:49","slug":"malta-begin-uefa-nations-league-campaign-with-2-1-win-at-andorra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/25\/malta-begin-uefa-nations-league-campaign-with-2-1-win-at-andorra\/","title":{"rendered":"Malta begin UEFA Nations League campaign with 2-1 win at Andorra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malta got their UEFA Nations League campaign off to a perfect start with a 2-1 win away to Andorra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was the hosts who enjoyed the best of the early play and the they took the lead just after the quarter hour when Bonello could only block a powerful shot from Aron Rodrigo and Guillaume Lopez\u00a0pounced on the rebound to put Andorra in front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malta&#8217;s best moment of the first half came just before the break when good link-up play between Zach Muscat and Ilyas Chouaref set up Guillaumier in front of goal who fired wide&#8230;a great chance to level gone begging,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andorra retreated deep in the second half allowing Malta to push up but the Maltese had to wait until ten minutes from normal time to get an equalizer. Shaw found Cardona inside the box who set up Teuma, who smashed home to make it 1-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malta missed a golden chance to extend their lead when Chouaref was brought down inside the box by Alexandre Martinez. Penalty.  The Swiss-based winger stepped up to the spot but sent his penalty kick high over the bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chouaref had a chance to make amends for that miss when he worked a good opening in the box only for keeper Alvarez to somehow get a touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2-1 to Malta the final score, a deserved win but work needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A busy week or so ahead for Malta, three consecutive home games at Ta&#8217; Qali. First, a Friendly against Liechtenstein on Sunday (kick off 6.30pm), followed by another two Nations League encounters against Gibraltar next week Thursday (8.45pm) and Andorra on Sunday 4 October at 18h.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Photos: MFA<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div><p id=\"pvc_stats_60070\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"60070\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p><div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Malta got their UEFA Nations League campaign off to a perfect start with a 2-1 win away to Andorra. It was the hosts who enjoyed the best of the early play and the they took the lead just after the quarter hour when Bonello could only block a powerful shot from Aron Rodrigo and Guillaume [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_60070\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"60070\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 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class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-150x100.jpeg",150,100,true],"medium":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-300x200.jpeg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"td_0x420":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"td_80x60":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-80x60.jpeg",80,60,true],"td_218x150":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-218x150.jpeg",218,150,true],"td_324x400":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-324x300.jpeg",324,300,true],"td_696x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"td_1068x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"td_100x70":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-100x70.jpeg",100,70,true],"td_265x198":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-265x198.jpeg",265,198,true],"td_324x160":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-324x160.jpeg",324,160,true],"td_324x235":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-324x235.jpeg",324,235,true],"td_356x220":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-356x220.jpeg",356,220,true],"td_356x364":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-356x300.jpeg",356,300,true],"td_533x261":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1-450x261.jpeg",450,261,true],"td_534x462":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"td_696x385":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"td_741x486":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false],"td_1068x580":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/andorra-vs-malta-1.jpeg",450,300,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Bernard Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Malta got their UEFA Nations League campaign off to a perfect start with a 2-1 win away to Andorra. It was the hosts who enjoyed the best of the early play and the they took the lead just after the quarter hour when Bonello could only block a powerful shot from Aron Rodrigo and Guillaume&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60074,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60070\/revisions\/60074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}