Michael Mifsud

Michael Mifsud
Michael Mifsud
Personal information
Full name Michael Mifsud
Date of birth 17 April 1981 (1981-04-17) (age 30)
Place of birth Sliema, Malta
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Valletta
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1997–2001 Sliema Wanderers 80 (60)
2001–2003 Kaiserslautern 21 (2)
2003–2004 Sliema Wanderers 12 (8)
2004–2007 Lillestrøm 48 (17)
2007–2009 Coventry City 86 (26)
2009 → Barnsley (loan) 15 (2)
2010 Valletta 7 (7)
2011 Qormi 5 (7)
2011– Valletta 7 (2)
National team‡
2000– Malta 85 (30)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 March 2010.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2011

Michael Mifsud (born 17 April 1981 in Sliema) is a Maltese footballer. He is the captain of the Malta national football team, and currently plays for Valletta. He was voted Maltese Sports Person of the Year in 2001 and 2003.[1]

Contents

Playing career

Sliema Wanderers

A product of Sliema Wanderers, Mifsud made his debut during the 1997–98 season. In his first season, Mifsud made six appearances and scored once, helping Sliema Wanderers to a 3rd-place finish in the Maltese Premier League.

The 1998–99 season saw Mifsud make the breakthrough and become a first-team regular. Mifsud was quickly becoming one of the hottest properties in Maltese football. He made 23 appearances and scored eight goals, as Sliema Wanderers again recorded a 3rd-place finish in the Maltese Premier League.

Mifsud's form the previous season led to a trial with English giants Manchester United in July 1999.[citation needed] However, the trial did not led to a permanent move and Mifsud returned to Sliema Wanderers for the 1999–2000 season. The failure to secure the move to Manchester United did not affect Mifsud, who was in fine goalscoring form for Sliema Wanderers, netting 21 times in 28 outings. The club finished in 4th position in the Maltese Premier League that season.

With interest in Mifsud growing, the 2000–01 season proved to be his last with the club. Mifsud helped the club to a 2nd-place finish in the Maltese Premier League, making 25 appearances and scoring an impressive 20 goals.

Kaiserslautern

His form earned him his first call up to the national team, and this alerted the Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern to his potential and he signed for the club in the summer of 2001.[1] He was a regular scorer with the B team in the amateur leagues and also made some substitute appearances for the senior team in the Bundesliga, scoring two goals.[1]

Sliema Wanderers

Mifsud failed to make the grade with Kaiserslautern A team and his wish for regular first-team football meant he was released in the winter of 2004. He re-signed for Sliema Wanderers for the remainder of the 2004–05 season. Mifsud went on to make 12 appearances and score eight goals, helping Sliema Wanderers to retain the Maltese Premier League title.

Lillestrøm

In the summer of 2005, he was snapped up by Norwegian Premier League club Lillestrøm, where he was at one stage voted the best foreign player in the league. He was the club's top scorer in the 2006 season with 11 goals in 19 appearances.

On 5 November 2006, the last day of the Norwegian League, he declared that he has set his heart on a move to one of the top European leagues. The previous summer, Lillestrøm had turned down an offer for Mifsud from English club Coventry City despite knowing that the striker would be able to move for free in January 2007 as his contract was due to run out at the end of December.

He declined to renew his contract with Lillestrøm to fulfill his wish to turn out for a club in a major European league.[citation needed]

Coventry City

Mifsud was spotted by the ex-manager of Coventry City, Micky Adams, as he was looking for new strikers in Norway. On 10 January 2007, Mifsud signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Coventry City in the Football League Championship in England.[2][3] However, Adams was sacked two days later. Mifsud made his début for Coventry City on 13 January 2007 in a Football League Championship match at home to Crystal Palace.[4]

Mifsud scored his first goal for Coventry City on 22 January 2007, after coming on as a substitute in an away game against Plymouth Argyle.[5] He then scored his second goal for Coventry in 4–1 defeat of Barnsley.[6] He also scored at Turf Moor on 6 May 2007 against Burnley.[7] During another impressive display, he scored a goal against Sheffield Wednesday and won the goal of the season for Coventry City.[8]

In the third round of the 2007–08 League Cup, on 26 September 2007, Mifsud scored two goals to give Coventry City an unexpected 2–0 victory over Premier League champions, Manchester United, his boyhood team, at Old Trafford.[9][10] La Gazzetta dello Sport nicknamed him as Il Messi Di Malta after the match.[11]

After this success, Mifsud continued to excel. He was instrumental in Coventry City's draw with Charlton Athletic on 29 September 2007, scoring his third goal in two games.[12] On 2 October 2007, Coventry City secured a 3–1 league win against Blackpool, the second goal again coming from Mifsud. In this same match, Mifsud was fouled in the box and the resultant penalty was scored by Coventry City's Michael Doyle. Furthermore, Blackpool's Kaspars Gorkss was shown the red card for a foul on Dele Adebola, after a Mifsud through ball.[13]

On 12 November, Mifsud was sent off after 11 minutes of a Midlands derby against West Bromwich Albion, after elbowing Carl Hoefkens in the face.[14] Mifsud later apologised for the elbow on Hoefkens.[15][16] On 4 December, Mifsud returned from his three-match ban to face West Bromwich Albion again. Mifsud scored two goals and increasing his tally to 15 goals for the season with the Sky Blues.[17]

On 5 January 2008, Mifsud scored two goals in the FA Cup in Coventry City's thrashing of Premier League Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.[18][19] For his performance, Mifsud was named as the player of the third round by visitors to the Football Association's website, for which he was made a guest of the FA at the 2008 FA Cup Final.[20] On 26 January, Mifsud scored Coventry's second goal in their FA Cup fourth round win against Millwall.[21]

On 23 April 2008, Mifsud was named as the runner-up for the Coventry City player of the year award by the clubs' fans. The winner was Jay Tabb, who scored 84% of the votes. However, Mifsud got most of the remaining 16%.[22]

On 23 July 2008, Coventry City accepted an undisclosed bid for Mifsud from Bristol City. On 29 July 2008, Bristol City announced that, following negotiations, in which manager Gary Johnson questioned Mifsud's commitment, they would not be proceeding with his signing. After a string of good performances, Mifsud eventually worked his way back into the Coventry City side.[23] Mifsud failed to hit the back of the net regularly during his last season, as he was mostly played as a winger. On 30 June 2009, Mifsud's Coventry City contract expired and he was subsequently released after becoming surplus to requirements by manager Chris Coleman.[24]

Barnsley

Mifsud joined Barnsley on loan until the end of the season on 2 February 2009 on the same day as Andranik Teymourian and Adam Hammill joining fellow Malta team-mate Daniel Bogdanovic at Oakwell. On 10 March 2009, Mifsud scored his first goal for his new club in a 1–1 draw at Oakwell against Birmingham Ciry. Mifsud scored his second goal for Barnsley on 18 March 2009, scoring the third goal in a 3–1 win against Crystal Palace.

Valletta

Mifsud remained a free agent for the last half of 2009 and the start of 2010, even though he was still an automatic choice for the national team. He finally joined Maltese club Valletta until the end of the 2009–10 season.

He made his debut for Valletta on 19 March 2010, against Qormi leaving his mark in the Citizens' 3–0 win. Mifsud scored the third goal with a placed first timer. He failed to score in what would prove to be the decisive game against Birkirkara in the following round, but then scored consecutive hat-tricks against Tarxien Rainbows in the league and against fierce rivals Floriana in the 100 Anniversary Cup Final. He scored a goal in each of the following three Premier Division games, before again failing to score against Birkirkara. He finished the season with seven goals in seven Premier Division games, two goals in three MFA Trophy games, four goals in two MFA Anniversary Cup games – a total of 13 goals in 12 games.

Return to inactivity

After his brief stint with Maltese club Valletta at the end of the 2009–10 season, Mifsud once again became a free agent. There were speculations that he wanted to resume his career in England or another country. Mifsud reportedly received interest from the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer in America[25] and Pohang Steelers of the South Korean K-League, besides being linked with a possible return to Valletta.

Qormi

Michael Mifsud was to sign with Floriana on 30 January 2010. This move did not materialise and led to the resignation of Floriana's president, Johann Said. However, the player finally reached an agreement with Qormi with whom he will play until the end of the Maltese football season. Mifsud debuted for Qormi with a hat trick and a man of the match performance against Birkirkara. The match finished 4–1 for Qormi. The following round saw him failing to score in Qormi's 2–2 draw against Marsaxlokk, a result that meant Qormi would have to play in the relegation pool.[citation needed]

Valletta

On 5 July 2011, after much speculation about his future, Mifsud signed for Valletta, penning a four-year contract.[26]

International career

Malta

Mifsud made his first appearance under Josip Ilić's Malta national team on 10 February 2000 against Albania in the National Stadium, Ta' Qali.

He is considered as one of the most prominent players Malta has ever produced. He was instrumental in Malta's victory against Hungary in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, the country's first competitive home victory since 1982.

On 27 March 2008, Mifsud scored five goals for Malta in a 7–1 friendly win over Liechtenstein, completing a hat-trick within just 21 minutes of the kickoff. On 3 March 2010, he surpassed Carmel Busuttil's goalscoring record with the national team, as Mifsud hit the back of the net for Malta in an exhibition match against Finland, which finished in a 1–2 loss for the locals.

International goals

As of 6 September2011
Mifsud – goals for Malta
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 25 April 2001 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Iceland 1–0 1–4 2002 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
2 14 November 2001 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Canada 2–1 2–1 Friendly
3 9 February 2002 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Jordan 1–0 2–1 Malta Tournament
4 13 February 2002 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Moldova 3–0 3–0 Malta Tournament
5 17 April 2002 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Azerbaijan 1–0 1–0 Friendly
6 20 November 2002 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus 1–2 1–2 UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
7 30 April 2003 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Slovenia 1–3 1–3 UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
8 10 September 2003 Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey  Israel 1*–1 2–2 UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
9 31 March 2004 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Finland 1–2 1–2 Friendly
10 18 August 2004 Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands  Faroe Islands 2–2 2–3 Friendly
11 13 October 2004 Vasil Levski Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria  Bulgaria 1–0 1–4 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
12 2 September 2006 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–5 2–5 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
13 17 October 2007 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Moldova 2–3 2–3 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
14 21 November 2007 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Norway 1–3 1–4 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
15 26 March 2008 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Liechtenstein 1*–0 7–1 Friendly
16 26 March 2008 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Liechtenstein 2–0 7–1 Friendly
17 26 March 2008 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Liechtenstein 3*–0 7–1 Friendly
18 26 March 2008 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Liechtenstein 5–1 7–1 Friendly
19 26 March 2008 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Liechtenstein 6–1 7–1 Friendly
20 30 May 2008 Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria  Austria 1–2 1–5 Friendly
21 12 August 2009 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Georgia 1–0 2–0 Friendly
22 12 August 2009 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Georgia 2–0 2–0 Friendly
23 18 November 2009 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Bulgaria 1–1 1–4 Friendly
24 3 March 2010 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Finland 1–0 1–2 Friendly
25 11 August 2010 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Macedonia 1–1 1–1 Friendly
26 4 June 2011 Karaiskaki Stadium, Piraeus  Greece 1–2 1–3 UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying
27 10 August 2011 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Central African Republic 1*–0 2–1 Friendly
28 10 August 2011 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Central African Republic 2–1 2–1 Friendly
29 2 September 2011 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Croatia 1–2 1–3 UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying
30 6 September 2011 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Georgia 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying

Goals marked with an asterisk (*) were penalty kicks.

Honours

Club

Sliema Wanderers

References

  1. ^ a b c "Michael Mifsud is MaltaToday's Sportsman of the Year". MaltaToday (MediaToday). 30 December 2001. http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2001/1230/sport.html. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  2. ^ "Sky Blues snap up Malta striker". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 10 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/6247905.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  3. ^ "Mifsud prepared to wait for start". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 11 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/6252861.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  4. ^ "Coventry 2–4 Crystal Palace". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 13 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6236723.stm. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
  5. ^ "Plymouth 3–2 Coventry". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 22 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6281923.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  6. ^ "Coventry 4–1 Barnsley". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 17 March 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6437355.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  7. ^ "Burnley 1–2 Coventry". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 6 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6602835.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  8. ^ "Sheff Wed 2–1 Coventry". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 21 April 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6555279.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  9. ^ "Man Utd 0–2 Coventry". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 26 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7008020.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  10. ^ "Dowie full of praise for Mifsud". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 28 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/7018781.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  11. ^ (Italian) Mifsud, "Il Messi Di Malta" Che Ha Steso Il Manchester
  12. ^ "Coventry 1–1 Charlton". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 29 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7008064.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  13. ^ "Coventry 3–1 Blackpool". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 2 October 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7019673.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  14. ^ "Coventry 0–4 West Brom". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 12 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7076458.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  15. ^ "Dowie has no sympathy for Mifsud". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 12 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7091601.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  16. ^ "Mifsud apologises after red card". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 13 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/7092316.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  17. ^ "West Brom 2–4 Coventry". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 4 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7122644.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  18. ^ "Blackburn 1–4 Coventry". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 5 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7163932.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  19. ^ "Dowie revels in second Cup upset". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 5 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7173418.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  20. ^ "Coventry hero earns FA Cup award". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7182698.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  21. ^ "Coventry 2–1 Millwall". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 26 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7197706.stm. Retrieved 27 January 2008. 
  22. ^ Jay Tabb is Coventry City fans' fave
  23. ^ "Mifsud committed to the Sky Blues". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 August 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/7560344.stm. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
  24. ^ "NEWS: Sky Blues trio released". http://www.ccfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10269~1707233,00.html. 
  25. ^ http://www.coventrycity-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/mifsud_to_play_with_fire_600117/index.shtml
  26. ^ http://www.vallettafc.net/squad/340.html

External links

v · d · eValletta F.C. – current squad

1 Cini · 2 Caruana · 3 Azzopardi · 4 Borg · 5 Ramón · 6 Fenech · 7 G. Agius (c) · 8 E. Agius · 9 Mifsud · 10 Briffa · 11 William · 14 Zongo · 17 Scicluna · 18 Pace · 19 Denni · 20 Falzon · 21 Effiong · 23 Sammut · 24 Hogg · 26 Frendo · 29 Towns · 99 Scerri · Manager: Zerafa



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