Malta aim to bounce back after Slovenia heartbreak

Malta U-21 will be aiming to put their painful defeat to Slovenia behind them when they face Sweden in another European Championship Group Two qualifier this evening in Halmstad (kick-off 19.15).

On Friday, Ray Farrugia’s brave youngsters were on the verge of gaining a point from their encounter with Slovenia as they were holding their more-quoted opponents to a 1-1 draw with only seconds left before the end of the game.

But, their optimism turned to despair when substitute Matej Podlogar struck at the death to keep Slovenia top of the group with 17points from seven games.

The cruel manner of their loss in Lendava was a hammer blow for the Malta U-21 team but assistant coach Ronald Vella is hoping that the players channel their frustration into another energetic performance today.

“It (the defeat) is a kind of mental obstacle we need to overcome ahead of our match against Sweden,” Vella told The Times.

“We’ve been devoting a lot of attention to pepping up the players’ morale.

“We have watched the game against Slovenia together and this confirmed our impression that we played very well but were terribly unlucky.

“We know that it’s difficult for the players to get over that defeat but they are looking forward to the game.

“Over the past few days, we’ve tried to focus on team-building exercises in training in order to boost the players’ confidence and they have responded well.”

Adding to the difficulty of the Malta U-21 team’s task this evening is Sweden’s determination to redeem themselves after their 6-0 hiding to Ukraine last week.

“This is another hurdle we have to face,” Vella said. “Sweden will surely be hellbent on bouncing back from their crushing defeat to Ukraine but we are concentrating on ourselves.

“It’s a big challenge for our team but if we were able to produce such a disciplined performance against a top team like Slovenia, why can’t we do the same against Sweden?

“Our approach for this game will be the same as for the Slovenia qualifier. We will be prudent without being overly defensive as we also have the qualities to cause our opponents problems in attack.”

Farrugia and Vella are concerned about the fitness of Terence Vella (hamstring), who scored Malta’s temporary equaliser against Slovenia, and defender Yessous Camilleri (ankle). If Vella and Camilleri are declared fit, Farrugia will stick with the formation he fielded in Slovenia.

Although mindful of the size of the task awaiting his team this evening, Vella believes that their chances of adding to their five-point tally would grow if they don’t concede in the first half against a Sweden side who beat Malta 1-0 at the Hibs Stadium in November.

“If we manage to keep a clean sheet in the first half, we would improve our hopes of getting something from this match,” Vella said.

The presence of Malta coach Pietro Ghedin in Sweden should also aid the efforts of Farrugia and Vella to motivate their players.

Ghedin, MFA CEO Bjorn Vassallo and Robert Gatt, the MFA technical director, are spending most of their time with Farrugia’s U-21 squad after flying out to Sweden the day after Malta’s 2-0 friendly win over Luxembourg.

Vella acknowledged that Ghedin’s keen interest in the U-21s should lift the players. “Ghedin being here is an injection of confidence for the players,” the former Mellieħa coach said.

“The players are aware of his presence as he’s been very supportive since we landed here.”

Meanwhile, the Malta U-21 squad encountered an unexpected problem on their arrival in Halmstad on Monday evening as they were advised not to use tap water for any reason over fears that it may have been contaminated.

The situation returned to normal yesterday.

Malta U-21 formation: S. Sultana, Z. Muscat, O. Bugeja, Y. Camilleri, M. Gauci, R. Muscat, M. Scerri, B. Kristensen, R. Scicluna, T. Vella, J. Bajada.

Referee: Domagoj Vuckov (Croatia).