Charles Muscat

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Charlie Muscat
Personnel
Surname Charles Muscat
birthday January 13, 1963
place of birth Malta
date of death January 13, 2011
Place of death Malta
position striker
Juniors
Years station
Birżebbuġa St. Peter's FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1979-1981 Birżebbuġa St. Peter's FC
1981-1988 FC Żurrieq
1990-1991 FC St. Patrick
1991-1993 Birżebbuġa St. Peter's FC
1993-1999 FC St. Patrick
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1984-1985 Malta 6 (2)
1 Only league games are given.

Charles "Charlie" Muscat (called Il-Baħri ; dt. The Sailor ; born January 13, 1963 in Malta ; † January 13, 2011 ibid) was a Maltese football player on the position of a striker . His successes include three finals at the Maltese Football Cup , which he won once in 1984/85 , as well as the awards for top scorer in the Maltese Premier League and for Malta's Footballer of the Year 1983/84 . With the Maltese national team he took part in six international matches in 1984 and 1985, including two goals for his home country.

Club career

From provincial club to first class

Muscat, who was born in Malta, began his career as a football player in his childhood or early youth in the junior division of Birżebbuġa St. Peter's FC , where over the years he went through all youth leagues and made it into the first combat team of the then Maltese for the first time in 1979 Fourth division made it. By the end of the season he only made two appearances in the men's team before he made the final breakthrough in the men's team of the lower-class playing club in the following season. After a rather difficult time in the Maltese House of Commons and the relegation of his team in the 1980/81 season, Muscat was looking for a new challenge and, due to his talent, was won by the first division club at the time, FC Żurrieq , which was only just entering the top football league for the second time Maltas had brought behind him, included in the men's team. The change of the youngster came at exactly the right time, with Muscat also being one of the team's top performers when they achieved the greatest successes in the club's history. The young player, who was previously only used to the more leisurely pace of the lower class, found himself in the system at Żurrieq early on and finally made his debut on October 31, 1981 in a 4-1 win over the Ħamrun Spartans . From that time on everything went a little faster for Muscat, who made a total of twelve league appearances and scored three goals by the end of the season.

After a decent 1982/83 season in which he also regularly was used, and with the team and at the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1982/83 took part, but there with a total score of 1: 8 against the Yugoslav club Hajduk Split retired , the young striker went into an even more successful 1983/84 season. With only moderate performances in the league, they made it to the final of the Maltese Cup , where the actual game against the Ħamrun Spartans ended with a 0-0 draw, but just 0-1 in the subsequent replay against the team was defeated in the extension. For Muscat, who scored four goals himself in the cup, the season was still a real success. By the end of the season he made it to the top of the Maltese Premier League's goalscorer list with seven goals (the same as Spartans player Georgi Ivanov) and was also voted Maltese Footballer of the Year at the end of the season . The two following years were no less successful for the striker and his team, so the team made it to the cup final again in 1984/85, but this year they had the happier end. Although the actual final game against Valletta FC ended with a 0-0 draw after extra time, the subsequent replay was won 2-1. For the club, this was the first big success in the club's history, which to date (as of 2011) should remain the only notable one. Due to the cup victory , the team around the strong offensive Muscat took part in the European Cup Winners' Cup 1985/86 , but was eliminated in the first round against the clearly dominating Krefeld with a total score of 0:12.

More time as a regular

Already at that time it was recognized that Muscat was not a great football player, but that he went to his games with unconditional effort, a certain openness and loyalty to his club. Nevertheless, he was already known as a productive goalscorer at that time, who, due to his goals, was also one of the main people responsible for the formation of a stable team that developed from a low-class team to one of the top 5 in Maltese football. An injury threw him back before he could even play the cup final in 1984/85, which is why he also missed the cup final in 1985/86, where his team lost 2-0 to Rabat Ajax FC . Due to his serious injury, he was hardly or not at all used in the following two years, so he also missed the first round of the 1986/87 European Cup Winners' Cup and had to wait a long time for a comeback. It was not until the 1987/88 season that he slowly found his way back into the team, with the healing of his injury only progressing slowly in the recovery process. Nevertheless, he regained his accustomed place on the offensive of the team, with five goals by the end of the season and thus slowly building on his old successes. By the end of the season, however, Muscat suffered a relapse due to his injury and so left active football for another two years. He left FC Żurrieq before the start of the 1988/89 season.

Subclassification from 1990

Muscat finally celebrated his comeback in the 1990/91 season when he moved to FC St. Patrick in the Maltese House of Commons after Ħaż-Żabbar . But he was able to celebrate significant successes with the then third division team and won the combined trophy of the third and fourth division with the team at the end of the season . Although the team celebrated some successes before Muscat was accepted into the squad, the striker left the team at the end of the season in the direction of Birżebbuġa St. Peter's FC. With the team, with which he began his career, he was able to quickly become Establish regular staff and also acted as team captain and manager in the team of the Maltese fourth division club. After almost two years of membership in the club, another change of the former footballer of the year became apparent before the 1993/94 season. He was drawn to FC St. Patrick once again, where he also let his career end over the years. With the team he managed, among other things, promotion to the Maltese Premier League in the 1994/95 season, in which one also achieved the championship title in the country's second-highest division. After the rise, however, the team did not last long in the highest football league in Malta, with one relegated back to the second division at the end of the 1995/96 season.

He celebrated his last major success with the team in the 1997/98 season, when he made it to the Maltese Premier League as a runner-up. There he spent one last season with the team and ended his active career in men's football with the recent relegation of his team. Although Muscat remained only as an amateur player throughout his career, he was able to celebrate significant successes in Maltese football and was still active as a hobby footballer in his 40s and competed with the selection teams of Birżebbuġa St. Peters at various IASC (Inter Amateur Soccer Competition) games part. On January 13, 2011, his 48th birthday, Muscat died in his native Malta; However, nothing is known about the cause of death. He left behind a wife and two sons who are also active as football players, who also began their careers at Birżebbuġa St. Peters and are now working for FC St. Patrick. The funeral was held on January 15, 2011 in Birżebbuġa , where Muscat was buried.

National team career

Immediately after the success that Muscat celebrated with FC Żurrieq, he was called up for the first time in the squad of the national team of Malta in 1984 . He finally made his debut in the qualifying for the 1986 World Cup , when he discharged the first World Cup qualifier in Group 2 against on 23 May 1984 Sweden came from the start for use and from the 77 minutes by Joseph "Joe" Gatt was replaced . The game, in which a number of Maltese players made their debut, ended in a clear 4-0 win for the host Swedes. He finally had his second national team appearance on September 6, 1984, when he was used from the start in the 2-1 away defeat against Israel , scored in the 21st minute of the game to lead his team 1-0 and from minute 52 through the more experienced Emanuel Farrugia was replaced. By February 16, 1985, his last appearance in the Maltese national team, there were three more appearances in the World Cup qualifying as well as a controversial international match against Italy , which the Italians won 2-1 and Muscat contributed Malta's only goal. The game against Italy was the only one that Muscat got through for the full length of the game.

successes

Club successes

with FC Żurrieq
with FC St. Patrick

Individual successes

Web links

literature

  • Karl-Heinz Huba: World football history: pictures, dates, facts from 1846 to today Copress Sport Verlag / Stiebner Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-7679-0958-8 , p. 562

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ^ Former Malta striker Muscat dies , accessed on February 22, 2011
  2. ↑ FORMER NATIONAL TEAM PLAYER DIES  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed February 22, 2011@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.maltasport.com  
  3. ↑ Sweden - Malta (4: 0) on eu-football.info (English), accessed on February 22, 2011
  4. ↑ According to other sources, such as the book Football World History: Pictures, Data, Facts from 1846 to the present day by Karl-Heinz Huba, he was only replaced in the game a few minutes later by Dennis Mizzi , who according to eu-football.info even not in the squad
personal data
SURNAME Muscat, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Muscat, Charlie (nickname); Il-Baħri (The sailor, German, first name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Maltese soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Malta
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 2011
Place of death Malta