A new chapter in the history of our national team will be opened this evening as the friendly away at Luxembourg (kick-off 5 p.m.) lifts the curtains on Pietro Ghedin’s second spell in charge of Malta.
Having signalled his determination to work night and day in order to lift the standards of the national team after several years in the doldrums, Ghedin will be looking at today’s warm-up as an opportunity to gauge not only the qualities of the players in his squad but, more im-portantly, their willingess to improve and adapt to his philosophy.
The fact that the Luxembourg friendly marks the start of Malta’s build-up for what promises to be a daunting 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign adds to the significance of the match at the Josy Barthel Stadium.
“Our objective is to play well and show that we have the desire to grow.
“This is very important for us,” Ghedin told The Times yesterday.
“We must have faith in ourselves and show belief in what we’re doing. It’s all about having the will to do well but I must say that I’m happy with the work we have carried out so far.”
Ghedin, whose previous stint as Malta coach was in the mid-nineties, has an 18-man squad at his disposal.
The likeable Italian has effectively retained most of the senior players who have been part of the squad under his immediate predecessors, the likes of captain Michael Mifsud, Roderick Briffa, Andrew Cohen, Andrè Schembri and goalkeepers Justin Haber and Andrew Hogg.
Yet, the inclusion of Joseph Zerafa, Dyson Falzon and Cleaven Frendo also indicates a willingness on Ghedin’s part to try new players.
Since taking charge of his first training session in May, Ghedin, who led the Italy women’s team for seven years before accepting the MFA offer to succeed John Buttigieg, has been running the rule over several players and Hibs’ defender Ryan Camilleri and Melita forward Julian Galea were also named in the provisional squad before being dropped.
Frendo’s recall has raised hopes that the Valletta winger, who spent the last two seasons on loan with Qormi and Sliema Wanderers, is rediscovering the form that made him one of the most exciting players in the Premier League.
Ghedin has been clearly impressed with Frendo’s attributes.
“From what I’ve been told Cleaven Frendo has had a terrible two years because of injuries,” he said.
“It could also be that he had limited first-team opportunities but maybe that was his fault. I’ve seen him train and I believe he is an interesting player.”
Ghedin was equally impressed with the way the players have conducted themselves in training.
“I’m very satisfied,” Ghedin said.
“They are prepared to assume their res-ponsibilities and they know what is expected of them... they don’t shift blame on others when a mistake is committed.”
Ghedin is expected to communicate his starting line-up to the players this morning.
As this will be his first match in charge, it’s hard to predict his initial XI but it seems safe to assume that the selection will not differ much from the one picked by Robert Gatt for the Liechtenstein friendly.
Mifsud, Cohen, Bogdanovic, Schembri, Briffa and Andrei Agius are expected to start while Alex Muscat and Clayton Failla are two strong candidates for the wide defensive roles.
After arriving in Luxembourg on Thursday evening, the squad had a practice session yesterday morning. Ghedin, who is being assisted by Branko Nisevic, is expected to conduct another light training session this morning at the venue of today’s friendly.
The referee of the match is Markus Hameter, from the Austrian FA.
Pietro Ghedin relays instructions to his players yesterday. Photo: Paul Zammit Cutajar