Fitzel yearns for Schembri lift as Tirana test looms

On Monday, the dilapidated buildings surrounding Dinamo Tirana's training grounds provided the Maltese players with a stark reminder of this country's difficult past but in footballing terms, Albania has come some way towards shedding its reputation as one of Europe's weakest nations.

On the night Malta were on the receiving end of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Group One favourites Portugal, Albania held Sweden to a goalless draw in their opening qualifier.

High on confidence, Albania can only be upbeat about their chances of chalking up their first victory in the 2010 World Cup campaign this evening when they take on Malta at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana.

Albania's optimism is also fuelled by memories of their 3-0 win over Malta in a friendly here a year ago.

Coming only five days after their 'baptism of fire' in the 2010 World Cup qualifying phase, tonight's match constitutes another arduous challenge for our national team but coach Dusan Fitzel is hopeful that his charges will avoid a repeat of the second-half slump that marred their showing against Portugal.

"We have analysed that game thoroughly and the players have realised what they did wrong," Fitzel told The Times.

"I'm quite satisfied with their response and I hope they do not repeat the same mistakes here in Albania. Our movement on Saturday was predictable, too static and it seems to me that our players showed Portugal too much respect.

"They seemed overawed, which was wrong. We have no stars in our team and we have to fight hard to have a chance of gaining something.

"I've also told the players that one very disappointing aspect on Saturday was that we didn't create one decent scoring chance. We were too confused and our clearances from the back were hurried.

"This is why in training here I encouraged the players to spend more time on the ball and concentrate on choosing the best option when they are about to pass."

Bar one or two isolated breakaways in the first half, Malta's attacking threat against Portugal was as good as nil. Michael Mifsud was starved of any kind of service and Terrence Scerri, for all his running, was kept under lock and key by Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe.

Malta's defence came under relentless pressure but it was in midfield where the team's biggest problems lay as the central duo of captain Gilbert Agius and Jamie Pace looked out of their depth.

Fitzel will surely call on his players, especially the senior ones, to step up their game. If no improvement is forthcoming tonight, then Fitzel should seriously start considering alternatives for a number of key roles in the team.

A plus for Malta today is the availability of striker Andrè Schembri who skipped the previous match due to suspension. Fitzel has already confirmed that Schembri will be in the starting line-up with Scerri most likely to make way for the Carl Zeiss Jena forward.

Ivan Woods's absence because of injury means that Fitzel must make another change to his team with George Mallia favourite to take over patrolling duties on the left side of midfield today.

It remains to be seen whether Fitzel will alter his defensive set-up with Aaron Xuereb in the running to take one of the centre-half spots. Roderick Briffa and Shaun Bajada are set to be confirmed at right- and left-back respectively.

All the players in Fitzel's squad came through unscathed from yesterday evening's training session at the Qemal Stafa Stadium which has a capacity of 16,200.

Support for Malta will be louder than usual today with the arrival of some 80 fans, all joining the South End Core trip to Tirana.

Fitzel is under no illusion as to the difficulty of today's assignment for Malta.

"Every match is hard for our team and this one is no different," Fitzel said.

"Albania have improved a lot in the last few years. In our group, they are ranked just above us but Albania beat us 3-0 in a friendly here last year."

"Albania play 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-1-1 when they are defending and switch to a kind of 4-3-3 when they attack," Fitzel added. "Their approach is similar to that of Portugal in that they have one central striker and two players attacking from the wings. Their three midfielders do a lot of interchanging but they are not top-level like the Portuguese."

The term 'positive result' is used loosely in football vocabulary, especially by the Maltese media every time one of our teams is preparing for an international game.

For Fitzel, a positive result for Malta is equivalent to avoiding defeat.

"Not to lose, that would be a positive result for me but it's very difficult for a small team like Malta," Fitzel said.

Statistics

Friendlies
16-08-95 Malta vs Albania 2-1
16-11-00 Albania vs Malta 3-0
22-08-07 Albania vs Malta 3-0

Tournament
06-02-98 Malta vs Albania 1-1
10-02-00 Malta vs Albania 0-1

Flashback
(Friendly - Ta' Qali, Aug. 16, 1995)

Malta 2
Albania 1

Malta: R. Cini (Valletta), S. Vella (Hibs), D. Carabott (Hibs), J. Galea (Birkirkara), M. Woods (Hibs), J. Buttigieg (Floriana), C. Busuttil (Sliema), N. Saliba (Valletta), G. Agius (Valletta), K. Laferla (Valletta), J. Sant-Fournier (Sliema).
Albania: B. Nalbani, A. Alliu, S. Malko, P. Daiu, I. Skulku, A. Pali, E. Martini, A. Shehu, A. Mema, A. Bushi, S. Prenga.

Referee: W. Cinciripini (Italy).

Scorers: Saliba 21; Bushi 73; Sant-Fournier 81.

ProbableToday
Malta: J. Haber, S. Bajada, B. Said/A. Xuereb, L. Dimech, G. Agius, R. Briffa, M. Mifsud, G. Mallia, A. Schembri, K. Sammut, J. Pace.
Albania: Beqaj, Beqiri, Curri, Dallku, Vangjeli, Cana, Lala, Skela, Hyka, Duro, Bogdani.

Referee: Robert Schoergenhofer (Austria FA).

Kick-off: 8.45 p.m.