On Saturday, the Swiss women's national team will play Malta away from home in the World Cup qualifiers at the Ta' Qali Stadium in Attard. The home team's hopes rest on Haley Bugeja, the newly crowned Sportswoman of the Year.
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- On Saturday, the Swiss women's national team will play their second World Cup qualifier away against Malta.
- Although the Swiss are the favorites, Malta will feature one of Europe's most promising football talents, Haley Bugeja.
- The 21-year-old Inter Milan striker, who made her national team debut at the age of 14, played a key role in Malta's promotion to League B in the Nations League.
On Friday, the day before the game, Géraldine Reuteler was asked about Malta's strengths: "They have a good striker who can hold onto balls well. That's why they will certainly play a lot of long balls." Reuteler is referring to Haley Bugeja, the Inter Milan striker who is the fifth-highest scorer in Serie A with six goals.
The fact that Inter are second in the table after 15 rounds, six points behind AS Roma - two points ahead of Juventus - also has a lot to do with her. In the summer, the 1.75 m tall striker extended her contract with Inter until 2029.
The steep rise of the super talent
Bugeja has long been a star in her home country and is also regarded as one of the biggest talents in European football. Last week, she was named Sportswoman of the Year at the annual awards ceremony. She had already won the prestigious trophy once before in 2021, but Haley is only 21 years old and still has her best years ahead of her.
She made her debut for Maltese club Mġarr United in 2018/19 at the age of 14. She finished the season as the league's top scorer with 26 goals and was voted the best player of the year. The following year, she scored 26 goals again and was again named best player of the year. Mġarr finished runner-up in both years.
After two outstanding seasons, she moved to Sassuolo in Italy, where she scored twice on her debut and by the end of the season had scored 12 goals and set up one in 18 games. Two years later, Bugeja moved to Orlando Pride in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), where she was able to learn from Brazil's superstar Marta, among others. After two seasons, she returned to Europe and joined Inter Milan.
Malta's wonder weapon
Bugeja has also achieved great things in the national team. Last year, she scored three goals and set up one in five games in the Nations League, making an important contribution to the team's promotion to League B.
The super talent has made 22 appearances for Malta so far and has already scored 18 goals. Bugeja played her first international match in 2019 at the age of 14 and scored her first goals in 2020.
Even though Malta are only ranked 88th in the world, the national team (25) would do well not to underestimate the hosts. Despite everything, the role of favorites is clearly distributed, as the Swiss are much better positioned across the board than Malta. There will be at least one change to the starting eleven compared to the 2-0 win over Northern Ireland, as Julia Stierli had to withdraw with a slight concussion. She could be replaced by Noelle Maritz, who was suspended for the opening game.
National team coach Rafel Navarro is not giving blue News a concrete idea of possible changes to the starting eleven, but is hinting at one or two changes.
The match schedule for the Swiss women's team
- Switzerland - Northern Ireland 2:0 - Click here for the Nati scores
- Malta - Switzerland, March 7
- Switzerland - Turkey, April 14
- Turkey - Switzerland, April 18
- Switzerland - Malta, June 5
- Northern Ireland - Switzerland, June 9
