Sultana ripe for goals

By Domenic Aquilina

Scourge of goalkeepers
Sultana's double strike in a 3-1 victory last Wednesday made him the league's all-time record scorer with 174 goals - one more than the late Tony Nicholl. He first registered for Hamrun in a match against Zurrieq FC in the 1987/88 season, and has since terrorised goalkeepers across the island during 17 seasons with the club and a four-year interlude at Hibernians FC. Here, the 34-year-old former Maltese international looks back on his career in the company of uefa.com.

uefa.com: How does it feel to be Maltese football's record goalscorer?
Stefan Sultana: The record was brought to my attention a while ago, and I have worked hard over the last two years to try and reach this goal. It is hard to describe my feelings at the moment - though I am obviously very happy - and I might need a few days before I can fully appreciate what I have achieved.

uefa.com: Where do those two goals rank among your career highlights?
It is hard to say. Many of my best moments were at the start of my career with Hamrun. I was the division's top scorer in 1991/92 with 22 goals in 17 games, a league record at the time. I have also won the league three times, the Maltese Trophy four times and five domestic Super Cups. So while there have been tough times as well in my career, I wouldn't point to any particular period and say it was a bad one. Generally speaking, I don't like losing matches so the more defeats in a season the worse the situation looks to me.

uefa.com: How high is the standard of football in Malta at the moment?
I think the level has improved, if not at the rate it has in other, smaller footballing nations. The more Maltese players that go abroad and play at a more competitive level, the better the national team will become. As for the Premier League, I would say the top four teams - Sliema Wanderers [FC], Birkirkara [FC], Valletta [FC] and Hibernians - are slightly ahead of the rest because they have a better choice of player and more options available to them.

uefa.com: How well can Maltese clubs do in Europe - and what are your memories of playing in continental competition?
Maltese teams have done quite well in recent seasons. It has been encouraging to see them managing to get through the preliminary rounds of the UEFA club competitions, as it is not something our teams have always been able to do. I myself played about 15 games in Europe - but never got on the scoresheet! The most memorable game was in the European [Champion Clubs'] Cup against the mighty [SL] Benfica. It was the return leg at the Da Luz stadium in September 1991. We kept them at bay until the last 20 minutes but then ended up losing 4-0. My happiest memories, though, were of being on the winning side at the National stadium - when we beat SK Tirana of Albania in the European Cup and then, in 1992/93, beat Slovenia's NK Maribor, both 2-1.