Upbeat mood

It is looking like a good week for Maltese sports. Young tennis player Matthew Asciak, son of the legendary Gordon, has just caused an upset at an international tournament in Dubai beating the top favourite. Meanwhile, Wednesday's win against Hungary remains the talk of the town with newspapers reflecting the upbeat mood triggered by the rare success of the national football team. The mood in Hungary is totally different. Writing in the Guardian, Gergely Szakacs describes the reactions in the Hungarian media:

Hungary came in for harsh criticism on Thursday after one of the worst results in the once proud soccer nation's history. The 2-1 defeat in Malta all but ended Hungary's hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland as they languish second from bottom in Group C, below the Maltese on goal difference. "This is an outrage," ran a headline in Hungary's only sports daily Nemzeti Sport. "It is a shame, an ignominy, a slur that a nation like Hungary with the finest pedigree loses a game against a sorry Malta team that has not won a European Championship qualifying tie for 24 years," it said.

Blikk, one of Hungary's most popular tabloids, bluntly called Hungary "the laughing stock of Europe" after what it said was a "shameful defeat for the Hungarian side." National broadsheet Nepszava labelled Wednesday's humiliating loss a "catastrophe," which left the Hungarian team scrambling for a new goal, to avoid sinking to the bottom of its qualifying group. Left-wing Nepszabadsag and right-wing Magyar Nemzet, were unusually united in their criticism.

"Rock bottom: the Maltese humiliated this company called the national side," ran a headline in Nepszabadsag, while the assessment of a resigned Magyar Nemzet article was "Two-one, but rather absolute zero." Twice World Cup runners-up Hungary, the country that gave the sport the great Ferenc Puskas, are 59th in the FIFA world rankings while Malta are 85 places behind.

The website of the Malta Football Association; from Di-ve