Last test before WCup qualifiers

Pietro Ghedin wants his players to produce another convincing performance when they take on fellow European minnows San Marino for the first time in an international friendly at the Serravalle Stadium, tonight (kick-off: 8.30 p.m.).

For Ghedin, this will be his second official outing on the Malta bench since taking over for a second time in spring. In his debut match in June, the Italian led the national team to a rare away victory when beating Luxembourg 2-0.

But the Italian is not looking too much into that result and seems to be more keen on seeing his players step up their game in their final test before the World Cup qualifiers get under way next month with a double header – vs Armenia (home, Sept. 7) and Italy (away, Sept. 11).

“This is an important friendly for us as it’s our last chance to try things out before our group match against Armenia,” Ghedin said before the team left for Serravalle on Sunday.

“I couldn’t have asked more from the lads in my first match but that’s the past now and we should only look at it as a starting point and nothing else.

“What would make me happier is to see the team improving all the time. That would be satisfying for every coach so on Tuesday (today) I expect the team to go forward and make better use of the ball when in possession to get the result we want.

“To win international matches you need to work hard and the team has to play as one, irrespective of the opposition.”

Yesterday, Ghedin conducted a morning training spin at the Stadio Serravalle before another session in this morning.

The coach is likely to deploy most of his players available in this early-season friendly and that could include debuts for John Mintoff and Ryan Camilleri.

San Marino are also in their build-up for the World Cup qualifying group that includes England, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine.

Today, coach Giampaolo Mazza will be without chief scorer Andy Sekva, who is recovering from a knee injury, but Argentine-born Danilo Rinaldi has earned a recall after two years in South America.

Mazza will also have two new faces in his squad, namely U-21 players Cristian Brolli and Lorenzo Buscarini.

Italian Paolo Tagliavento will referee tonight’s match.