Unlucky Azzopardi vows to bounce back

Ian Azzopardi was gutted that his unlucky deflection gave Sweden a 1-0 win over Malta but the Sliema Wanderers left-back told The Times that Wednesday's setback will not break his spirit.

"I'm very disappointed about the own goal," Azzopardi said.

"It was down to bad luck as the ball hit my leg and went in. Everything happened so fast, I didn't have time to react. I was very sad after the game but overall, I believe that our team deserves credit for the performance against Sweden. On a personal note, I am determined not to let this upset affect my confidence."

The defining moment of Wednesday's World Cup Group One qualifier occurred nine minutes from time when substitute Marcus Berg's cross from inside the box ricocheted off Azzopardi and past the helpless Andrew Hogg for Sweden's winner.

Azzopardi believes that Malta would have held out for a draw were it not for that own goal.

"I really don't think Sweden would have scored if they didn't get that lucky break," he said.

"We were defending well and as the game progressed, we could see that the Sweden players were getting more and more frustrated."

Angola friendly

Having missed out on a first-team berth in the 2-0 defeat to Cape Verde, Azzopardi was delighted to reclaim a starting role on Wednesday. He is hopeful of staying in the team for the friendly against Angola on October 10 and Malta's final World Cup qualifier against Portugal four days later.

"I hope to keep my place in the team for next month's games but I know that I must continue to train seriously and play well to get the coach's nod," Azzopardi said.

Azzopardi believes that Malta's resolute showing against Sweden should stand the team in good stead ahead of what promises to be a gruelling outing in Portugal.

"The Portugal qualifier is still some weeks away but we always look at our last competitive match to see where we can improve," Azzopardi remarked.

"Losing 1-0 to Sweden is by no means a bad result and I believe we can draw confidence and courage from our performance on Wednesday ahead of next month's difficult encounter against Portugal."