Seven Maltese players took part in the World Cup of Table Football which was held in France earlier this month.
Malta took part in four different categories: the Open, Under 19, Under 12 and the Team event. High hopes were expected considering the talent possessed by the players who were involved.
In the Open category, Massimo Cremona (ranked world’s no 3) was the Maltese player who managed to advance most losing only in the quarter final stage after being defeated by Italy’s Efrem Intra by just a single goal.
Derek Conti and Samuel Bartolo lost at the last 16 stage. Derek Conti lost to England’s Kasper Bennett who finished runner up in this competition. On the other hand, Samuel Bartolo lost to Italy’s Daniele Bertelli who ended up winning the title after beating Kasper Bennett 1-0 in the final.
In the under 19, Mauro Camilleri won his group and managed to reach the quarter-final but lost to Belgian youngster Justin Leroy. Mauro’s participation was his last appearance as a teenager as next season he will only be eligible for the open category.
In the Under 12 competition Matthew Pace, was the only Maltese ambassador. Besides being so young, this was his first appearance in such a big event. However, he kept his nerves calm and after losing his group, he managed to qualify for the next round. He then saw off some seeded players on his way to the final. Here he faced Dutch young star Mitchell Timmers, but the Maltese brushed aside his opponent and won this challenge 4-1 to be crowned world champion. 18 countries took part in this World Cup 2007 held in France.
The Maltese national team was made up of Derek Conti (captain), Massimo Cremona, Samuel Bartolo, Mark Gauci and Stefan Pace.
The Maltese had a tough group of four, out of which only two nations could qualify. In the group matches, Malta beat England 3-0 and Austria 2-1.
However, Malta lost the last group match 3-1 against Spain to gain a precious second group place.
The quarter final meant a repetition of last year’s semi-final against Belgium. However, Malta performed at its best and decisively won 3-0 to gain a semi-final against Portugal. In this match, Portugal had all their best talents in top form especially Vasco Guimaraes (world youth champion twice) and Sergio Laurerio. However, with a late winner, the Maltese beat the Portuguese 2-1 to gain the first ever World Cup team’s final against Italy.
Unfortunately for the Maltese, Italy, world champions for these past four seasons, had the better of our Maltese players and won this event to leave Malta with a silver medal.
The scores:
Derek Conti – Efrem Intra/M.Nastasi 1-0; Massimo Cremona/Stefan Pace – Simone Bertelli 0-5; Samuel Bartolo – Massimo Bolognino 0-2; Mark Gauci – Daniele Bertelli 1-1.