Fitzel lauds team, warns against over-confidence

It is truly amazing how football can have such an influence on the lives of its aficionados.

Saturday evening in Chisinau, it was smiles all around in the lobbies and restaurants of the hotels hosting the Maltese players, Malta FA officials and the fans. Each time you came across somebody from Malta, you were sure to be greeted with a warm handshake and a wide grin.

Malta's hard-earned point against Moldova was the main talking point as the 50 or so Maltese fans who saw the game at the FC Zimbru Stadium reflected on the gallant performance produced by the national team and their satisfaction at the point obtained.

The general feeling was that the result rewarded the valid resilience shown by our players. For many, goalkeeper Justin Haber was the man of the match as his saves, including one from a penalty, were instrumental in the 1-1 draw.

But, all the players came in for praise, particularly central defenders Brian Said and Luke Dimech, and George Mallia who notched the goal.

The work of coach Dusan Fitzel also drew appreciative comments from the fans. On Saturday, they enjoyed the rare experience of witnessing a positive result by our national team on foreign soil.

Earlier in the evening, Fitzel had also expressed his satisfaction at the point collected by Malta, the fourth in Group C, but the Czech is harder to please than the normal fan.

While most of his predecessors would have put the finer points of Malta's performance to one side following such a creditable result, Fitzel, who conducted a light training session in Chisinau yesterday before the squad boarded the flight back home, provided a succinct assessment of his team's showing.

"All players deserve credit for their commitment and determination," Fitzel said.

"Justin Haber did well for us but it was a collective effort. He made a couple of mistakes that could have proved costly but he also effected some fantastic saves. This is what I expect from my goalkeeper.

"Fighting spirit helped us to get this positive result and as a coach, you can't ask for more."

Fitzel was not surprised by Moldova's high-pressure game.

"Moldova's performance didn't surprise me," he admitted. "They were putting us under great pressure.

"They played a lot of accurate passes, restricting our team to a 40-metre area in our own half. Their diagonal balls caused us problems as we made tactical mistakes which we couldn't rectify during the game.

"At half-time, I told the lateral midfielders to give more support to the flank defenders because their inclination to push forward was leaving a big gap in the middle.

"Even the full-backs, at times, drifted out of position and that made it easier for Moldova as they had the time and space to deliver a lot of crosses into our penalty area.

"My plan was to have more attacking thrust on the right and more defensive solidity on the left with Kenneth Scicluna.

"Roderick Briffa (who played at right-back) had a difficult day. His confidence was undermined by that penalty after 26 minutes."

The point achieved in Moldova ought to strengthen the team's resolve ahead of Wednesday's home clash with Greece, the current European champions who were beaten 4-1 at home by Turkey on Saturday.

"The spirits are very high after this result," Fitzel said. "It's good to approach a difficult game with a high morale but I hope the players don't get too much excited.

"For the Greece game, Luke Dimech will be missing after his red card. That's a setback because he is a key player in our defence.

"Ivan Woods suffered a muscle strain but it doesn't look serious. If he is declared unfit, that would leave me with 17 players. In that event, I will call another player."

Fitzel later indicated that Valletta's Ian Zammit, who produced a lively performance as a lone striker in the U-21's 2-0 defeat to Moldova, is the favourite to earn promotion to the senior squad if Woods loses his fitness battle.

In defence, Fitzel is contemplating moving Scicluna into the centre of defence to replace Dimech after the Birkirkara defender filled in at left-back against Moldova.

Fitzel is also backing striker Michael Mifsud to step forward and show his true mettle against Greece.

"We scored on the counter but it wasn't Mifsud who got the goal," Fitzel remarked.

"He was a little unlucky in that he made a couple of promising runs but lost possession. By his recent standards, Mifsud didn't have an outstanding game but I hope he has left some goals in reserve for the match against Greece."