The Maltese national futsal team were beaten by Romania 2-1 in the first of two international friendly matches being played at the University Pavilion in Tal-Qroqq.
These matches will serve as preparation for the European futsal championship qualifier as Malta will play against Italy, Finland and Belarus between December and April.
Romania, who are in the 24th place of the FIFA ranking, went ahead three minutes from the end of the first half through Dudau Vlad who took advantage of a defensive mistake.
Malta equalized a few seconds later when it was the substitute Collin Sammut who beat the goalkeeper Petrisor Tonita.
After the first half ended in a 1-1 draw, in the second half the Maltese were not aggressive and it was here that Romania took the lead after a good run by Sergiu Gavrila who beat Clint Mifsud with a powerful shot.
Today Malta plays the second friendly match against Romania with the game starting at 7pm and played in the University Sports Hall.
