Maria Coppola has just finished a whole season playing women’s football in France with second division team Le Pek of Paris.
She described her season as very successful. “I enjoyed playing there at such high levels. The league there is different from that in Malta. There are 24 teams taking part divided into two sections. My team was playing in Section A,” she said.
Coppola, 29, said the team finished the season in a highly creditable fourth place and she helped the team in no small way, also scoring some goals in the process.
One of her best games was against a team named Colombia. “The match, which was decisive for the placing, finished in a 3-3 draw, but the match was extremely thrilling. In actual fact, we were losing 3-2 and I managed to score the equaliser for my side,” she said.
Le Pek was coached by one of the players, Meleni Robbles who is still 25 years old. “She is also a good coach and this makes her unique in that it is very rare to find a player coach in women’s football,” said the Maltese girl.
Coppola, who apart from playing in Malta, also played women’s football in the US a few years ago, said she really enjoyed this new experience and after her short holiday in Malta, she will be looking forward to return to France to resume training for the next season. However, she might change the side as other teams such as Paris SG and Montigny were showing an interest in her services.
At first she had some language problems, but thanks to her husband Ali Mathlouthi’s encouragement, she overcame such problems.
Asked what she thought about women’s football after the recent European Championship. She said: “It is getting better and better. The French team did well though they lost to Germany 3-0 in the quarter-finals. But they have obviously made great strides forward. In the US there is a stronger national team, but they have more players at their disposal. In France, there has been a rapid development. They already have over 80 teams and these have developed over the last five years.”
While in Malta, Maria Coppola played for Melita and the Maltese national team as well.