No joy for brave Malta

Malta 0
Hungary 2

The positive vibes emanating from Malta's lively showing in the home draw against Iceland and the resilience displayed in an otherwise disappointing 4-1 loss to Bulgaria had heightened hopes of a fruitful outing against Lothar Matthaeus's Hungary.

Such expectations did not materialise. Hungary ambled away from the National Stadium last night with three points that could prove valuable to their chances of playing a meaningful part in the race for qualification to the World Cup finals after defeating Malta 2-0 to collect their second win in four matches.

This was a painful loss for our national team who again put up a valid challenge, conceding Hungary's first goal late in the first half after they had fashioned the better chances early on and then suffered the killer blow in time added on just seconds after they had squandered a golden opportunity to level the score.

The reaction of the majority of the fans who have given up hope but still retain a remote interest in the national team's fortunes through the media is likely to be one of derision.

'Same old story... Malta played well but lost' many would lament and, in more ways than one, that is very true.

It is hard to be positive after a defeat against a modest Hungarian team but the tactical composure shown by the Maltese and their unwavering enthusiasm to pour forward in search of openings whenever they had possession underline the progress achieved since their infamous 7-0 demise to Sweden.

Mind you, our team have anything but arrived to that level where we can announce to the world that Malta is ready to make its mark on the international scene.

Our players still find it hard to cope with the physical and tactical demands of international football for 90 minutes and they are still liable to surrender possession cheaply when exhaustion creeps in.

The timing of the substitutions by Horst Heese yesterday also raised a few question marks as these came too late for them to make some sort of impact.

With our next qualifier, away to Croatia, more than five months from now, the work of Heese and his assistant Carmel Busuttil must be designed at ameliorating Malta's traditional weaknesses and sustaining the improvement reached in the last few months.

The initial stages of yesterday's match served up ample evidence of the positive thinking in the team.

Three minutes into the game, Gilbert Agius and Stefan Giglio combined in the middle of the pitch to create an opening for Michael Mifsud, again deployed as a lone striker yesterday. Mifsud, who hit Malta's only goal in the 4-1 upset in Sofia, outpaced Szaboics Huszti but Peter Stark deflected the ball for a corner.

Malta threatened to seize the lead three minutes later when, from an inswinging Roderick Briffa corner, Ivan Woods darted in to head firmly towards goal but Gabor Kiraly fisted the ball away.

The clearance from the Hungary goalkeeper squirted in the direction of the energetic Briffa who whipped in another low cross but the alert Kiraly again repelled his effort.

The confident passing and movement of the home team allied with Hungary's conspicuous troubles in establishing a foothold in the match will have raised Malta's optimism of increasing their points' tally in the group.

It was not before the 15th minute that Hungary finally managed a decent attempt, a long-range grounder from Sandor Torghelle ending wide. This signalled the start of a spell of Hungarian pressure, Ian Azzopardi rescuing Malta from a potentially dangerous situation when dispossessing Robert Waltner. A seemingly harmless drive by Hungary right-back Huszti was fumbled by Malta keeper Justin Haber who was relieved to see the ball dropping wide of his near post.

Brian Said picked up a yellow card after 25 minutes after clattering into Tamas Hajnal just outside the penalty area. Huszti's direct free-kick had power but lacked precision as the ball swerved wide of the far post.

Seldom did Malta break on the counter amidst Hungary's ascendancy but when Briffa, served by Giglio, set on a mazy run, danger beckoned for Matthaeus's side. Huszti tripped the Birkirkara player as he was about to enter the box. A free-kick was given but surprisingly, Finnish referee Tony Asumaa failed to brandish the yellow card to the Hungary defender. Agius's free-kick sailed high and wide.

Just past the half hour, it was Malta who again threatened to break the stalemate from a set-piece. Giglio's low pass from the corner rolled towards Agius whose piledriver skimmed the upright.

Six minutes from half-time, Hungary drew first blood. Their opener was down to the intelligence and opportunism of skipper Zoltan Gera. The West Brom forward exchanged passes with Torghelle in the penalty area, weaved past Luke Dimech and curled an unstoppable strike past Haber.

Their confidence galvanised by Gera's breakthrough, Hungary maintained their pressure on Malta's fort, Said making a providential tackle to block Hajnal after Gera's cross-shot had been diverted into his path.

Malta began the second half in purposeful, attacking vein. Mifsud fired a low shot that triggered a goalmouth melee but Kiraly stood his ground to avert the danger.

Broken cries of 'Malta, Malta' echoed around the stadium as the sparse crowd tried to encourage the home team into maintaining their second-half rally.

Fourteen minutes into the second half, Heese effected his first substitution of the match, Michael Galea replacing Claude Mattocks.

As the game gathered pace, the Maltese began to betray signs of exhaustion which in turn reflected itself in a succession of miscued passes.

One one occasion, Briffa tried to dribble his way out of defence only to be dispossessed by Waltner who quickly redirected the pressure on the backtracking Malta defence by feeding Gera. The latter squared the ball to the steaming Hajnal, one of the best players on view yesterday, but his angled drive came off the near post.

The visibly tired Woods made way for Andrew Cohen 18 minutes from time. A rare Maltese foray into Hungary's half procured a corner that was taken as usual by Briffa. His cross soared above the advancing Kiraly but Giglio's tame header drifted wide.

Cohen's introduction marked a tactical switch from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 in Malta's ranks as the nimble Hibs striker proceeded to partner Mifsud up front.

Deep into stoppage time, Etienne Barbara, a late replacement for Agius, may have snatched an equaliser for Malta when Galea's flick found him in space but the Marsaxlokk player shot feebly into Kiraly's hands.

From the ensuing action, Hungary quickly took the ball forward as the Maltese team toiled to recoup ground, the pacey Huszti pulled back for Peter Kovacs who tapped home to seal the points.

Coaches' comments

Horst Heese was disappointed that Malta were beaten by Hungary.

"We did not expect miracles," he said. "But deep down we believed we could have avoided defeat. My team is playing more confidently. We did not just defend and I'm particularly satisfied that the players ventured forward frequently.

"I'm really sorry for the boys... Briffa had a great match but I must say all the players did well. The spirit in the squad is ideal at the moment. We believe in having a good atmosphere in the group and that explains our policy of calling players with a strong character who show great enthusiasm to play for the national team."

Hungary's Lothar Matthaeus praised his team for winning the three points from what he termed as a difficult qualifier.

"I congratulate my team for the victory," he said, "but Malta also deserve praise for the way they played. As I had predicted this was no easy match for us. We had some new players in the squad but there was commitment and we're making good progress.

"Malta could have taken the lead early in that match and that would have put us in a tight situation. We knew beforehand that Malta will be no pushovers... perhaps with better luck they could have scored today.

"Sweden did not find it that difficult to win here but they've got superb match-winners like Ibrahimovic and Larsson. We've got no such class players in our squad, that's why we're happy with these three points."

Malta: Justin Haber; Ian Ciantar, Ian Azzopardi, Roderick Briffa, Brian Said, Luke Dimech, Gilbert Agius (Etienne Barbara '85), Stefan Giglio, Michael Mifsud, Ivan Woods (Andrew Cohen '72), Claude Mattocks (Michael Galea '59).

Hungary: Gabor Kiraly; Denis Rosa (Gabor Gyepes '90), Szaboics Huszti, Roland Juhasz, Peter Stark, Tamas Hajnal, Csaba Feher, Pal Dardai, Sandor Torghelle (Peter Kovacs '66), Zoltan Gera, Robert Waltner (Peter Lipcsei '79).

Referee: Tony Asumaa (Finland).

Scorers: Gera 39; Kovacs 90.

Yellow Cards: Said; Gera.