Farrugia backs team to bounce back from Slovenia upset

A 4-1 home defeat to Slovenia may have brought Malta’s U-21 team back to earth after two positive away results but it has not shaken coach Ray Farrugia’s belief in his team’s capabilities.

Farrugia admitted to being disappointed with his team’s showing last Thursday but he’s confident that his young guns will bounce back by winning today’s UEFA U-21 Group 2 qualifier against Finland at the Hibs Stadium (kick-off 4 p.m.).

“The Slovenia game was disappointing for us and the players know that their performance was not good,” Farrugia told reporters.

“The only positive to come out of the match was that we created several scoring chances. We showed Slovenia too much respect but in football, you win some games and you lose some as well.

“I still believe we have a good chance of winning the next game against Finland. I’m very positive. We must learn from our mistakes in the last match.

“We’re looking forward to the Finland game but we can’t afford to miss chances like we did against Slovenia.”

Malta U-21s’ defeat to Slovenia came after two excellent results away, a 0-0 draw with Finland and a 2-1 win in Lithuania.

The 4-1 loss inevitably sparked some criticism but Farrugia had a go at those people who posted disheartening comments on the internet.

“The problem in this country is that some armchair critics eagerly await a negative result so that they can criticise the players,” he said.

“We’re a small country and after this team gained two positive results, the people should have given the players encouragement after this defeat. The criticism was not fair and I hope this mentality will change one day.”

As the U-21s will be playing at home on the same day as the senior team, there have been suggestions that this may impact negatively on the attendance for today’s game but Farrugia said that is not the reason why the fans will stay away.

“Our game starts at 4 and that of the senior team (vs Georgia) begins at 8.30, so time is not an issue,” he said. “Still, I don’t think many people will come to our game because we’re coming from a bad result. If you get a good result, you see more interest from the fans but the opposite is true when you have a negative match.

“I take the opportunity to thank the South End Core for their excellent support throughout the game against Slovenia. I honestly hope they will come to see the team against Finland.”

Farrugia revealed that he will make three changes from Thursday’s game. Captain Rowen Muscat will return after a virus restricted him to a 45-minute appearance against Slovenia.

Muscat will replace Clyde Borg, Steve Pisani will come in for Tristan Caruana and goalkeeper Daniel Balzan has been given the nod ahead of Steve Sultana.

Rowen Muscat believes that the defeat to Slovenia could stand the Malta U-21 players in good stead.

“I think this defeat can help us,” Muscat said. “After two good results, you can become a bit overconfident. Maltese teams can’t afford to relax, we have to stay focused. Thanks God that this loss came very early in the campaign.”

Zach Muscat, scorer of Malta’s consolation goal against Slovenia, echoed his captain’s sentiments.

“You can’t be happy after a defeat but you learn from every experience in life,” the Pietà youngster said.

“This is our chance to show that we can repeat the good results we had in our opening two games.”

Farrugia hailed Rowen and Zach Muscat as two of the brightest prospects of Maltese football.

“They are two exciting players,” he said. “They have a great future ahead of them and I hope both will get the chance to play overseas but to do that, they must work hard.”

Malta formation: D. Balzan, Z. Muscat, M. Gauci, Y. Camilleri, O. Bugeja, M. Scerri, R. Muscat, B. Kristensen, L. Grech, T. Vella, S. Pisani.

Referee: Neil Doyle (Ireland).

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