Mifsud, Fitzel tip Malta to improve points tally

Optimism is high within the Malta FA that our national team can eclipse the three-point tally obtained in the preliminary round of the World Cup 2006 when they compete in the next qualifying campaign for the 2008 European Championship, starting in September.

Joe Mifsud, the president of the MFA, and Dusan Fitzel, the coach from the Czech Republic who has recently been given charge of the national team on a two-year contract, are unified in their belief that Malta are capable of making a good impression when they take part in Group C which also features Greece, the European champions, Turkey, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and Moldova.

"Our group lacks a top name but I believe that Malta can aspire to gain a significant number of points from these qualifiers," Dr Mifsud told a news conference yesterday.

"The appointment of Mr Fitzel as national coach increases my confidence in the team's ability. I say this because I'm convinced that Mr Fitzel has the right credentials to bring the best out of our team."

Describing Malta's group as tough, Fitzel has set the national team a higher but reasonable target vis-a-vis their performance in the last World Cup qualifiers.

"This group is very tough with the top teams enjoying high positions in the FIFA rankings," Fitzel remarked. "I still expect Malta to improve on its record in the last campaign.

"In the World Cup qualifiers, Malta collected three points, scored four goals and conceded 32. My aim for Euro 2008 is to gain more points, strike more goals and suffer less."

Malta finished bottom of Group Eight of the WC 2006 qualifiers with three points after home draws against Iceland, Croatia and Bulgaria.

Fitzel picked Bosnia, Hungary and Moldova as Malta's main targets for positive results.

"I believe we are capable of taking something from our matches against Bosnia, Hungary and Moldova," Fitzel said. "The good thing about this group is that all teams try to play good football. Norway are a bit different because Nordic teams tend to be more physical ."

The coaches and officials from the associations of the seven nations in Group C have agreed to meet up in Istanbul, Turkey on February 16 to formulate the fixtures schedule.

With regards to the Malta U-21s, drawn in a two-legged preliminary round play-off against Georgia, the MFA will soon initiate talks with its Georgian counterpart to determine the dates of the games. The first leg is scheduled to take place in Malta and both matches must be played before July 15. The winner of this tie will join Serbia and Montenegro and Lithuania in the group stages for the 2006-2007 UEFA U-21 Championship finals.

Mark Miller, the Malta U-21 coach and assistant to Fitzel, expressed his concern about the negative effect the expected shortage of competitive matches would have on the U-21 squad.

"It's a difficult situation," Miller said. "There is a probability that we end up having only two games in several months and that is certainly not ideal for a coach. In 16 months, the U-21s played 15 games and we saw a big improvement there.

"For a country like ours that needs its young players, it's important that these play many international games.

"The International Tournament for the A team will be a good opportunity to include some young players in the squad. Fitzel and I have agreed to call a 24-man squad and the young players who have progressed most in the last few years will have the chance to show their value."

Fitzel, who began work as the new Malta coach on January 16, held back from divulging his initial views on local football.

"I have only watched eight games from the Premier League and that's surely not enough to make an assessment of the players," Fitzel said.

"I liked Michael Galea of Birkirkara. He's the leading scorer in the league but I've only seen him in matches against teams from the bottom part of the table. I'll have to wait for the more difficult games to check his true potential.

"I'm also pleased that several players from the last Malta U-21 squad have been performing well."

Fitzel also confirmed that the foreign-based players who figured regularly in Horst Heese's squads over the past two years will be invited to take part in the International Tournament. The three established players currently engaged with foreign clubs are Michael Mifsud (Lillestrom, Norway), Justin Haber (US Quevilly, France) and Luke Dimech (Chester, England). Malta U-21 midfielder Andrei Agius is on the books of Italian Serie A club Messina.

Regulations on youth players

The last part of yesterday's conference was dedicated to the MFA's draft regulations regarding the prevention and cure of players in the national youth squads.

This pilot project is aimed at protecting youngsters from social maladies, namely drug and alcohol abuse. Dr Mifsud explained that the MFA's initiative is intended to help young players tackle alcohol and drug abuse. The regulations enpower the association to carry out simple tests on players to detect any abuse of alcohol and/or drugs.

If successful, this programme will also be extended to the youth nurseries.