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Michael Mifsud
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Michael Mifsud | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Mifsud | |
| Date of birth | April 17, 1981 (age 25) | |
| Place of birth |  Pietà, Malta |
|
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | |
| Nickname | Piżżellu | |
| 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 (2) 12 (8) 48 (17) 13 (2) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2000- | Malta |
46 (12) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Michael Mifsud (born April 17, 1981 in Pietà, Malta) is an professional footballer currently playing 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.
His foremost attribute is his electric pace, which is undoubtedly aided by his physique; he is only 1.65m tall. He is considered as one of the most prominent players Malta has ever produced. He was instrumental in Malta's historic victory against Hungary in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, the countries first competitive home victory since 1982.
A product of Sliema Wanderers, he made his debut in the 1997/1998 season, appearing 7 times and scoring a goal. He became a first-team regular the following season, scoring 8 goals in 22 appearances. Two phenomenal seasons followed, with 21 goals in 26 appearances in 1999/2000 and 30 goals in just 25 appearances the following season.
His great form earned him his first call up to the national team, and he made his first appearance under Josip Ilić's Malta national team on February 10 2000 against Albania in the National Stadium, Ta' Qali.
This alerted the then Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern to his potential and he signed for the club in the summer of 2001. 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.
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. Last 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 present contract was due to run out at the end of December.
He declined to renew his contract with Lillestrøm to fulfil his wish to turn out for a club in a major European league. Besides Coventry City, 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.
On January 10, 2007, Mifsud signed a 2 and a half year deal with Coventry City in the Football League Championship in England.
On January 22, 2007, Mifsud scored his first goal for Coventry City, coming on as a substitute in an away game against Plymouth Argyle. He then scored his second goal for Coventry City in 4-1 humiliation of Barnsley, Mifsud has forged a partnership up front with Dele Adebola and continues to work with the classic 'little and large' ripping into defences at will.
Like most players in Malta, he carries a nickname. His goes as piżżellu, which means "the pea", definately a remark for his diminutive size. Nevertheless, as in the fable, it was a pea that gave the princess sleepless nights. Malta and Coventry fans keep hoping that piżżellu lives up to to the fable's effect.
He has said that he wants to play against his favourite club, Manchester United.
| Coventry City F.C. - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Steele | 2 Whing | 3 Hall | 4 Page | 5 Ward | 6 Hughes | 8 Doyle | 9 Adebola | 10 Kyle | 11 Birchall | 13 Lee-Barrett | 14 Fadiga | 15 McKenzie | 16 Osbourne | 17 Mifsud | 18 McNamee | 19 Giddings | 20 Hawkins | 21 Tabb | 22 Hutchison | 23 Cameron | 24 Bunce | 25 Virgo | 29 Thornton | 30 Davis | 31 Lynch | 33 Marshall | 43 Belford | Manager: Dowie |