Malta seek redemption

"Yes it’s true, these are rough times for our national team, it’s true, the results are a bit disappointing... and all odds seem to be against us. But it’s also true that we are still Maltese, in good and bad circumstances, we must be proud when waving our flags..."

This excerpt, taken from an email sent by the South End Core to local football fans with the aim of drumming up support for Malta in the World Cup 2010 qualifier against Hungary, perfectly sums up the scenario ahead of this evening’s match at the National Stadium.

Malta desperately crave a fillip in the shape of a draw or a win against Hungary after three successive upsets in their World Cup qualifying Group One so far.

The fans, especially the dedicated members of the South End Core, have gone to great lengths to promote the match and raise the spirits of the local football fraternity.

A low-key performance in a 3-0 defeat to Denmark last Saturday was hardly the ideal way for the national team to prepare for this clash with the Hungarians but the hope is that this latest setback will have galvanised Malta’s resolve to get off the mark.

As striker Michael Mifsud remarked during a pre-match news conference on Monday, the time has come for the national team players to "do their talking on the pitch".

Lately, the impression exuded by national coach Dusan Fitzel before international games is that Malta are conceding defeat before a ball has been kicked but that must surely change if our team are to replicate the performance that helped them record an outstanding 2-1 victory over Hungary in a Euro 2008 qualifier almost two years ago to date.

In fairness, it was under Fitzel’s guidance that the national team attained unprecedented heights and for all the criticism aimed at the outspoken Czech in the past few weeks, he has not become a bad coach overnight.

A good showing and satisfactory result tonight would go some way to pep up the battered morale and perhaps persuade Fitzel to stay in his job but that will not be easy to achieve.

Coming into this match after a 2-0 home victory over Albania, Hungary will be striving to banish the painful memories of their setback to Malta two years ago.

Several players who were in that Hungary team are in the squad Dutch coach Erwin Koeman has at his disposal.

"This will be our third match against Hungary in the last two years but they have been through three coaches during that time," Fitzel said. "Most of the players in the Hungary team two years ago are again in the squad. I see this match as an ideal confrontation between the progress of these two nations in footballing terms."

Fitzel had over 20 players for training on Monday but he will stick with the 18 who made the trip to Denmark. In light of the poor showing at the Parken Stadium, it seems safe to presume that he will tinker with his formation today.

With Fitzel, it’s almost impossible to detect his intentions in so far as his choice of personnel is concerned but the likes of Brian Said, Shaun Bajada, Udo Nwoko and Etienne Barbara could be in line for a first-team recall.

The only certainties in Malta’s starting formation appear to be goalkeeper Justin Haber, who avoided a heavier defeat against Denmark with a string of fine saves, Jamie Pace and Mifsud.

Two years ago, Malta banked on Mifsud’s electric pace and Schembri’s eye for goal to shock Hungary for our third ever victory in Euro qualifiers.

After that, Fitzel’s men managed to grind out impressive draws away to Moldova (1-1) and at home to Turkey (2-2) but in the last six months, positive results have been conspicuous by their absence.

The statistics of the first three World Cup ties are dismal as Malta have let in 10 goals and scored none. Goalscoring chances have been few and far in between as Malta’s opponents are clearly taking measures to nullify our chief attacking weapon… Mifsud.

Carlos Quieroz, Arie Haan and Morten Olsen, the coaches of Portugal, Albania and Denmark respectively, all singled out Mifsud as Malta’s most dangerous player.

Christian Poulsen, the Danish midfielder who plays for Juventus, also mentioned Mifsud in his pre-match comments.

"I try my best to study the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents before a match but they are doing the same about us," Fitzel said.

"All teams in Europe know how we play now and who are our best prospects but because our pool of players is so limited, we have no chance of surprising them anymore," Fitzel said.

"We all expect great things from Mifsud but he’s no genius. He can’t beat two or three defenders who play in the English Premier League at one go. Teams are not taking risks when they play Malta and this was evident against Denmark who always had two or three players shadowing Mifsud."

Hungary have collected four points from their opening three World Cup Group One qualifiers.

Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Albania was their first in this competition and materialised courtesy of second-half goals from Sandor Torghelle and Roland Juhasz.

The Hungarians had kicked off their campaign with a goalless draw at home to Denmark and then lost 2-1 to Sweden in their second qualifier.