Updated | Italy defeat unlucky Malta

Politicians, schoolchildren and young footballers are among those who this evening flocked to the Ta' Qali stadium to watch the much anticipated match between Malta and Italy as part of the World Cup Qualifiers.

With Wintermood's Ivan Grech and DJ duo Tenishia warming up the crowd, the stadium was brimming with excitement and anticipation well before the match started... with supporters advised to cheer for the Malta team.

And cheering they did: as the Italy lineup was being announced the crowd booed while they erupted in cheers of joy for the Malta team.

Malta's national anthem was sung by Ivan Grech while that of Italy was sung by Irene Fargo.

The southend core has been decorated with white and red banners with Maltese flags flying high.

Sitting among the VIPs are also Prime Minister Joseph Muscat - himself a Milan fan - and President of the Republic George Abela, also a former president of the Malta Football Association.

Notorious Italian commentators and journalists, including Mario Civoli, Stefano Bizzotto, Massimo Dossena and Riccardo Cucchi are also present.

The pitch is in extraordinary condition and the players of both teams earlier went out to inspect the ground. Luckily for Italy, the wind has died down - yesterday Italy coach Cesare Prandelli expressed his worry that the wind could affect the performance of his players.

An important change to the Malta team is the placement of Justin Haber as goalkeeper, replacing Andrew Hogg - a decision probably based on Hogg's dismal performance during the Malta-Bulgaria match.

Mario Balotelli and Stephan el Shaarawy will be playing in forward line, a position they both hold with AC Milan. The Italy team is basically composed of players hailing from the Juventus and AC Milan teams.

Italy get the game underway with Marchisio immediately feeding and early ball in behind the Maltese defence for Balotelli who loses his footing, much to the amusement of the Maltese supporters.

Malta started to show they are not going to sit back and start to push the Italian side winning a number of midfield battles.

On the 8^th minute, the referee immediately points to the penalty spot after Malta's Luke Dimech floored Stephan El Shaarawy inside the area. Mario Balotelli makes no mistake from the penalty spot when he beats goalkeeper Justin Haber with his shot to give Italy the lead.

On the 10^th minute, Italy come close to doubling their lead, but Luke Dimech manages to steal the ball from Giaccherini.

On the 12^th minute, El Shaarawy come close to scoring when his shot goes narrowly wide.

El Shaarawy scores on the 14^th minute but the goal was disallowed after linesman's flag was raised as Balotelli is offside.

A chance to equalise for Malta on the 17^th minute after goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon brings down Andre Schembri inside the area.

Michael Mifsud attempts a powerful shot from the penalty spot but Buffon performed a perfect save to keep Italy in the lead.

Malta continue to press as on the 19^th minute luch would not be on their side after Michael Mifsud's powerful shot from outside the area hits the crossbar.

As Malta continue to gain confidence, Italy cannot control the match as they wish to leaving spaces for Malta to attack.

Malta goes close to scoring again on the 31^st minute when a freekick by Clayton Faila forced Buffon to tip the ball for a corner.

On the stroke of half-time, Italy manage to double their lead thanks to a wonderful goal. De Sciglio ran on to a Leonardo Bonucci pass down the left and kept it in play when skipping past a defender, pulling back from the by-line for Balotelli to side-foot into the far bottom corner.

The second half started no different with Malta continuing to press the Italian side to try to score the goal they much deserved.

On the 53^rd minute, Alexander Muscat had his shot from inside the area narrowly go wide.

On the 58^th minute, the Maltese players protested for a penalty when Michael Mifsud seemed to be brought down inside the area by Barzagli.

As the match continued, Italy gain more ball possession and continue to pass between each other producing very few scoring opportunities.

The match ends with Italy defeating Malta 2-0, but the Maltese side walked of the pitch with their heads held high after producing a fantastic performance.

MALTA Justin Haber, Jonathan Caruana, Alex Muscat, Gareth Sciberras, Luke Dimech, Clayton Failla (82' Andrew Cohen), Roderick Briffa, Michael Mifsud (88' Terence Vella), Andre Schembri, Edward Herrera, Ryan Camilleri.
Subs not used: Andrew Hogg, Andrei Agius, Ryan Fenech, Paul Fenech, Rowen Muscat, Jacob Borg.
Coach: Pietro Ghedin

ITALY Gianluigi Buffon, Mattia De Sciglio, Ignazio Abate, Claudio Marchisio, Mario Balotelli (86' Alberto Gilardino), Stephan El Shaarawy (76' Alessio Cerci), Andrea Barzagli, Riccardo Montolivo, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Pirlo, Emanuele Giaccherini (63' Antonio Candreva).
Subs not used: Morgan De Sanctis, Salvatore Sirigu, Christian Maggio, Luca Antonelli, Alessandro Florenzi, Andrea Poli, Sebastian Giovinco, Andrea Ranocchia, Alessandro Diamanti.
Coach: Cesare Prandelli

Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk
Assistant Referees: Charles Schaap, Hessel Steegstra
Fourth official: Richard Liesveld
Yellow Cards: Buffon
Scorers: 8' Mario Balotelli pen, 45' Mario Balotelli