Busuttil warns of Croatia's deadball threat

Croatia's deadball expertise has been singled out by Carmel Busuttil, the former Malta skipper and now assistant to national mentor Horst Heese, as their chief weapon.

On Saturday evening, Busuttil was a curious spectator at the Maksimir Stadium, keeping a close watch on the proceedings as Croatia took on Iceland in a Group Eight qualifier, just four days before Malta visit the same ground in Zagreb.

A Niko Kovac brace and one goal each for Josip Simunic and their inspirational striker Dado Prso (pictured above, left) gave Croatia a convincing 4-0 victory over Iceland.

Croatia climbed to second with 10 points from four matches with Bulgaria slipping to third on seven points after their 3-0 loss to Sweden who lead Group Eight with 12 points. Hungary have six points, five more than bottom sides Iceland and Malta.

Croatia's four-goal winning margin against Iceland may suggest that Saturday's game was nothing more than a leisurely stroll but Busuttil told The Times from Zagreb that the home side's ability to inflict damage from set-pieces made all the difference.

"Croatia were very dangerous from deadball situations," Busuttil said.

"Darijo Srna, who plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, can strike the ball with deadly accuracy and his crosses from set-pieces tormented Iceland who opted for a defensive approach.

"The game was not as one-sided as the scoreline might indicate and the crowd were growing restless before Kovac put them ahead late in the first half with a header from a cross by Srna."

According to Busuttil, who was very critical of the conditions of the pitch at the Maksimir Stadium, the present Croatian team are not as strong as the famous edition of the late nineties.

"On Saturday, Croatia were definitely better than Iceland but they are clearly not on the same wavelength as the great team of Boban and co. who were acclaimed as one of the best sides in Europe," Busuttil, who was captain of Malta when our national team lost 2-1 to Croatia in August 1999, said.

Busuttil's conclusion from his discovery mission in Zagreb last weekend is simple... if Malta are to stand a chance of grinding out a good result against Croatia, their concentration throughout the game, especially during set-pieces, must be flawless.

"There is no doubt in my mind that our chances of doing well here depend on our level of concentration," Busuttil commented.

"Our players must not lose their focus at any time and should also avoid giving away fouls close to the penalty box. Prso and Igor Tudor won many high balls for Croatia and that is not easy to do against a team like Iceland, even though the latter struggled to atone for the absence of Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen.

"Prso and Niko Kranjcar, the son of the coach of Croatia, were very lively and we have to give them special attention."

After the 7-0 debacle to Sweden in their opening Group Eight qualifier, Malta have switched to a more defensive 4-5-1 tactical system. This approach yielded a slight improvement as in their subsequent qualifiers, Malta drew 0-0 to Iceland and lost their qualifiers away to Bulgaria (4-1) and at home to Hungary (2-0).

Busuttil is convinced that Malta would do well to stick with its 4-5-1 formula against Croatia on Wednesday.

"Croatia play with a 3-4-1-2 system. They like to work the ball wide and attack down the flanks but they also allow one midfielder to have a free role. Iceland found it hard to limit the influence of Croatia's roaming midfield player," Busuttil said.

"As our tactical method is designed at cutting out the supply lines from the flanks, I believe that this approach gives us the best chance of countering Croatia," he added.

Busuttil, who is expected to take over as coach of Malta at the end of the World Cup 2006 qualifying campaign, also watched the UEFA U-21 qualifier between Croatia and Iceland on Friday.

Croatia won 2-1 to prolong their unbeaten start to four matches before they face Mark Miller's lads tomorrow afternoon.

"Croatia U-21 were superior to Iceland," Busuttil said. "Like the senior team, the U-21's use a 3-4-1-2 system and look to exploit the speed and height of their players. Our U-21 team have also had some good performances lately and if they give a disciplined performance, I am confident that they can get a result here."

Malta squads fly out to Zagreb

Meanwhile, the Maltese squads were due to travel to Zagreb early this morning. Following the withdrawal of veteran Jeffrey Chetcuti due to a hamstring injury, Heese opted to award a first call-up to Valletta's Renie Forace. Massimo Grima, also of Valletta, has also been named in Malta's 18-man list.

Malta defender Luke Dimech, of Mansfield Town, was expected to arrive in Croatia yesterday but Michael Mifsud, the Lillestrom striker, will be in the travelling party on the Air Malta flight to Zagreb this morning.