Malta vs. Czech Rep.

Woke up in Tachov and Petr came to pick us up to drive us to Plzen for the big game ... Malta vs. Czech ! we were also going to take part in a hockey camp there , which we skipped the first night so we would not miss the match . Petr dropped us off at the hotel and we were off and running , let the party begin ... Timo soon showed up with his 2 buddies from Augsburg that were there for the hockey camp , they had to go to the rink and we had to go to the stadium where i was going to meet Mark Muscat .... i am such a dumb ass , i asked him where his seats are , his reply was i am on the pitch mate . LOL !

Mark is the media officer for the MFA ( Maltese Football Association ) we met just before the game to say hi as we have been trading emails for the last few months on Facebook . Great guy ! He tried to get us VIP pass' but it didn't work out , not to worry ;) We were pretty much the only Supporters there and quickly found our seats in a section all alone .... this was good , beer in hand and football game about to start and i notice a family of Maltesers waving our beautiful flag . I yelled out AYA MALTA !!! and next thing you know they were leaving their seats to join us :) Ruth was from Malta and her kids had Maltese accents when they spoke English .

The game was quite good in the first half , we all went crazy when Malta scored to tie it at 1-1 before the half time on an amazing strike from Briffa . the whole stadium turned around when we were cheering to see who were these people cheering against Czech team ;) Unfortunately the second half was not as good for us Maltese Supporters .... Malta ended up losing 3-1 and we waited outside to get a glimpse of the teams , we met some Czech players but the Maltese team had disappeared so i messaged Mark and he invited us to meet the team at the hotel . This was an opportunity that i was not going to miss , even though everyone from the hockey camp were constantly messaging us to come meet them .

When we got to the Plaza Hotel we immediately found Mark and he began introducing me as the Maltese fan from Canada and the guys were all really friendly to me ... i got to meet Maltese football hero Michael Mifsud who is the all time leading goal scorer for the MFA , if he isnt he will be soon enough :) also we met Andrew Hogg who is the keeper ... buddy you played amazing ! A few of the training staff joined us at the bar and were really amazing fellows especially Tony Gambin (former body builder and now trainer for the team ) he had some really cool stories to share about meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was younger ... i think he is the life of the party and at this moment i feel at home with my Maltese brothers . As the guys came out 1 by 1 i got autographs and pictures with mostly everyone i could get a pic with ... understanding the whole time that that there was some Maltese media there to meet them as well . I am glad that i skipped hockey for this and i don't think i will ever get another opportunity like this in my lifetime ...

I really have to thank the Maltese Football Association from top to bottom ! You all are top class in my mind , thanks for all the lovely gifts and the time you gave me to meet everyone including all the trainers and the President of the MFA .. Mr. Norman Demajo . I wish  you all the best in your friendly vs. Liechtenstein ... AYA MALTA !!!

After we left the hotel we went to a disco in the city center to meet our hockey mates , not sure if they knew how totally drunk we were at this point but lets just say it got messier .... double gin and tonic please :) was great seeing Timo and Melanie and Andrea again ... we danced the night away , until i got the spins and left the club at some ungodly hour . wanna bet that i don't play tomorrow ?