Downcast Fitzel predicts rough ride for Malta in Denmark

Dusan Fitzel is so wary of the magnitude of the task awaiting Malta in Saturday's World Cup 2010 qualifier away to Denmark that yesterday he went as far as to suggest that a defeat by fewer than four goals should be considered a satisfactory result for the Maltese team.

A downcast Fitzel pointed at Malta's dismal head-to-head record against Denmark and the team's injury-plagued build-up to Saturday's match as the two main reasons for his high scepticism.

"Before our opening qualifier against Portugal, I was aware that our team would find the going very tough in this group," Fitzel told a news conference yesterday.

"The results of the opening qualifiers have confirmed my expectations. Denmark will be very difficult opponents. They have gained four points from their first two matches, both played away.

"Saturday's qualifier against Malta will be Denmark's first home outing after their 3-2 win in Portugal and I guess this will render our task even more complicated because there will be a loud atmosphere at the stadium.

"Going through Malta's results against Denmark along the years, it seems that, on average, we tend to lose by four goals or more, so if we concede fewer than four on Saturday, I think we can be satisfied."

Apart from fitness problems plaguing players like Andrew Hogg, Cleaven Frendo, Kevin Sammut, Andrew Cohen, Mario Muscat and Peter Pullicino, Fitzel also bemoaned the lack of regular football for most of his foreign-based players.

"Udo Nwoko hasn't been playing for Leixoes but the coach has told me that he intends to call on Nwoko for a friendly game this week," Fitzel said.

"Justin Haber is not playing for Sheffield United and Michael Mifsud (Coventry City) has not had more than six minutes of first-team action in the last two matches.

"It's only André Schembri (Carl Zeiss Jena) and Etienne Barbara (SC Verle) who have been playing regularly for their clubs in the past few weeks."

Fitzel currently has 31 players in his provisional squad but he will trim the list to 18 before the Malta FA party departs for Copenhagen on Thursday morning.

Young Sliema goalkeeper Henry Bonello and defender Andrei Agius, who is on the books of Italian club Igea Virtus, are the latest additions to the pool of players at Fitzel's disposal. Hibs' defender Jonathan Caruana has also been drafted back into the national squad after recovering from a neck injury.

Asked if other young prospects who were part of the last edition of the Malta U-21 team would also be given a chance to stake their claim for a place in the senior group, Fitzel replied: "Only four weeks have passed since our qualifier in Albania. The time between the last match and the next was too short to get many new players into the squad.

"After these two matches, I intend to call more players who were in the U-21 squad to start training with us. I like to give new players a long trial and the four-month break after the Hungary qualifier will give me the chance to change a few things.

"Obviously, it's always up to the players to prove that they deserve to be in the national squad."

"After losing 4-0 to Portugal and 3-0 to Albania, I know I must make a few changes. In this situation, you either change the coach or the players," Fitzel added.

For all his pessimistic talk about Malta's chances of grinding out a positive result at the Parken Stadium, Fitzel is not preoccupied about his players' state of mind before Saturday's qualifier.

"The morale of the team... they like to play international games," Fitzel observed. "They know how to focus on the next match and they look forward to it because internationals give them the opportunity to experience high-level football."

Invited to gauge the form of his players in the domestic league so far this season, Fitzel said: "As I said at the last news conference, the national players' form can be classified into three categories... excellent, average and poor.

"Some have been excellent in the domestic matches, some have been average and others have been playing really badly.

I don't like to talk about individual players but there have been games when it was really hard to notice that there were national team players on the pitch."

Malta defender Luke Dimech shares Fitzel's caution about Denmark's challenge but he sounded more upbeat.

"It's going to be another difficult game for us but the last time we played in Denmark, our performance was quite positive," Dimech remarked, recalling Malta's 2-1 defeat in a 2002 World Cup qualifier seven years ago.

"We will seek to emulate that performance and maybe cause a shock in Copenhagen. The game after Saturday is at home to Hungary. My appeal is for the fans to come and support us because their encouragement from the stands is a big boost for the players."