Michael Mifsud

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Michael Mifsud
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Personal information
Full name Michael Mifsud
Date of birth April 17, 1981 (1981-04-17) (age 27)
Place of birth    Pietà, Malta
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Coventry City
Number 17
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1997–2001
2001–2003
2003–2004
2004–2007
2007–		 Sliema Wanderers
Kaiserslautern
Sliema Wanderers
Lillestrøm
Coventry City		 80 (60)
21 0(2)
12 0(8)
48 (17)
66 (21)   
National team2
2000– Malta 56 (19)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of May 15, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of May 15, 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Michael Mifsud (born April 17, 1981 in Pietà, Malta) is a professional footballer who plays for Football League Championship side Coventry City, where he plays as a striker.

He is a member of the Malta national team and has previously played for Sliema Wanderers, Kaiserslautern and Lillestrøm. He was voted Maltese Sports Person of the Year in 2001 and 2003.[1]

His foremost attribute is his pace, which is undoubtedly aided by his physique; he is only 1.64m tall.

Michael Mifsud was spotted by ex-manager of Coventry City Micky Adams as he was looking for new strikers in Norway. Unfortunately for Mifsud, Adams was sacked two days after buying him. Mifsud made his début for Coventry City against Plymouth in a Coca Cola Championship match.

Contents

[edit] Club career

A product of Sliema Wanderers, he made his debut in the 1997–98 season, appearing seven times and scoring one goal. He became a first-team regular the following season, scoring eight goals in 22 appearances. Two successful seasons followed, with 21 goals in 26 appearances in 1999–2000 and 30 goals in just 25 appearances the following season.

His form earned him his first call up to the national team, and this alerted the then-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 2 goals.[1]

His wish for regular first-team football meant he was released in the winter of 2004, just in time to re-sign for Sliema Wanderers and help them retain the Maltese league championship. The same summer he was snapped up by Norwegian Tippeligaen 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 November 5, 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. Besides Coventry, Premier League clubs Watford and Sheffield United, as well as Championship club Leeds United were said to be interested in signing him on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract.[citation needed]

[edit] Coventry City

On January 10, 2007, Mifsud signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Coventry City in the Football League Championship in England.[2][3]

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

In the third round of the Carling Cup, on 26 September 2007 he scored two goals in the game to give Coventry an unexpected 2–0 victory over Premier League champions, Manchester United, his boyhood team, at Old Trafford.[8][9] La Gazzetta dello Sport nicknamed him as Il Messi Di Malta after the match.[10]

After this success, Mifsud continued to excel. He was instrumental in Coventry's draw with Charlton Athletic on September 29, scoring his third goal in two games.[11] On October 2, Coventry secured a 3-1 league win against Blackpool F.C., 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's Michael Doyle. Furthermore, Blackpool's Kaspars Gorkss was shown the red card for a foul on Dele Adebola, after a Mifsud through ball.[12]

On November 12 Mifsud was sent off after 11 minutes of a Midlands derby against West Bromwich Albion, after elbowing Carl Hoefkens in the face.[13] Mifsud later apologised for the elbow on Hoefkens.[14][15] On December 4, Mifsud returned from his 3 match ban to face West Brom. It was a great comeback from Mifsud, scoring 2 goals and increasing his tally to 15 goals this season with the Sky Blues.[16]

On January 5, 2008, Mifsud scored two goals in the FA Cup in the thrashing of Blackburn Rovers on Ewood Park, and confirmed his status as one of the clubs most deadly attackers, and perhaps the most vital one as well.[17][18] For his performance, he has been nominated for the player of the third round and subsequently he was received most votes in this award. This will make him a guest for the FA Cup final regardless in which round Coventry end in this competition.[19] On January 26, Mifsud scored Coventry's 2nd goal in their FA Cup fourth round win against Millwall.[20]

In the second half of the season Michael Mifsud failed to keep up with the momentum of the first half. He scored 1 goal in January 2008 and did not score for the rest of the season until the final game of the season. On 2008-05-04 Mifsud scored Coventry's only goal in their home defeat against Charlton Athletic, Coventry avoided relegation by one point that season.

On 2008-04-23 Michael Mifsud was named the runner-up for Coventry City's player of the year by the clubs' fans. The winner was Jay Tabb who scored an incredibly 84% of the votes. However Mifsud got most of the rest.[21]

[edit] International career

Mifsud made his first appearance under Josip Ilić's Malta national team on February 10, 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 March 27, 2008, Mifsud scored 5 goals for Malta in a 7-1 friendly win over Liechtenstein, scoring a hat-trick after only 21 minutes of the match played.


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Michael Mifsud is MaltaToday’s Sportsman of the Year. Malta Today (2001-12-30). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  2. ^ Sky Blues snap up Malta striker. BBC (2007-01-10). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  3. ^ Mifsud prepared to wait for start. BBC (2007-01-11). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  4. ^ Plymouth 3-2 Coventry. BBC (2007-01-22). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  5. ^ Coventry 4-1 Barnsley. BBC (2007-03-17). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  6. ^ Burnley 1-2 Coventry. BBC (2007-05-06). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  7. ^ Sheff Wed 2-1 Coventry. BBC (2007-04-21). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  8. ^ Man Utd 0-2 Coventry. BBC (2007-09-26). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  9. ^ Dowie full of praise for Mifsud. BBC (2007-09-28). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  10. ^ (Italian) Mifsud, "Il Messi Di Malta" Che Ha Steso Il Manchester
  11. ^ Coventry 1-1 Charlton. BBC (2007-09-29). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  12. ^ Coventry 3-1 Blackpool. BBC (2007-10-02). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  13. ^ Coventry 0-4 West Brom. BBC (2007-11-12). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  14. ^ Dowie has no sympathy for Mifsud. BBC (2007-11-12). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  15. ^ Mifsud apologises after red card. BBC (2007-11-13). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  16. ^ West Brom 2-4 Coventry. BBC (2007-12-04). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  17. ^ Blackburn 1-4 Coventry. BBC (2008-01-05). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  18. ^ Dowie revels in second Cup upset. BBC (2008-01-05). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  19. ^ Coventry hero earns FA Cup award. BBC (2008-01-14). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  20. ^ Coventry 2-1 Millwall. BBC (2008-01-26). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  21. ^ Jay Tabb is Coventry City fans' fave

[edit] External links

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Coventry City F.C. – current squad

1 Konstantopoulos • 3 Hall • 4 Fox • 5 Ward • 6 Hughes • 8 Doyle • 11 Birchall • 15 McKenzie • 16 Osbourne • 17 Mifsud • 18 McNamee • 21 Tabb • 22 Best • 23 Ireland • 24 Simpson • 25 Gray • 26 Dann • 28 Borrowdale • 29 Thornton • 31 Simmonds • 32 Schmeichel • 33 Marshall • 34 Turner • 36 Francis • 38 Burgess • 39 Robinson • 40 Burtoft • 42 Ashraf • — Beuzelin • Manager: Coleman Assistant: Kean