Malta coach Pietro Ghedin paid tribute to his players for coming through what he described as “a difficult, important test” after Jonathan Caruana’s first-half goal gave the national team a 1-0 victory over fellow minnows Liechtenstein.
“The conditions were very difficult,” Ghedin said of Wednesday’s friendly as his players braved the biting cold in Vaduz to end their international commitments for 2012 in winning style.
“We are not accustomed to such conditions, moreso when considering that our players had been playing on artificial turf in the past few weeks. The pitch here was wet and uneven but the players were excellent... they held firm until the end.
“They not only summoned the strength and energy to cope with Liechtenstein’s pressure, they also created attacks. They were very brave.”
Having surrendered a 1-0 lead in losing 2-1 to Malta in a friendly at the National Stadium last February, Liechtenstein will have been eager to make amends for that defeat on Wednesday. They hit the post twice but Malta generally gave a very good account of themselves.
“In my mind, Liechtenstein are like a Serie B team,” Ghedin said. “The majority of their players turn out for Swiss clubs and Swiss football has improved a lot in recent years. It was certainly a difficult and important test for us.
“Liechtenstein and Malta are more or less on a par, even in the FIFA rankings. We are ranked 149th and Liechtenstein are 157th.
“I’m happy that we’ve gained a very good result in this friendly.”
Ghedin gave Ħamrun Spartans striker Terence Vella his first start for Malta while Birkirkara midfielder Rowen Muscat also made his debut after coming on as a late substitute for Gareth Sciberras.
Andrei Agius started at right-back, a position he also filled for his Italian Serie C1 club Latina in recent matches, as Caruana, who was out of the starting line-up in the opening three World Cup Group B qualifiers, partnered Luke Dimech, Malta’s stand-in captain.
Ghedin didn’t restrict himself to personnel changes as he also tweaked the team’s tactical approach in the second half.
“We started with 4-2-3-1 but changed a bit in the second half after I brought on Paul Fenech for Andrew Cohen,” Ghedin said.
“Rowen Muscat made his first appearance for us and Terence Vella played the whole game. We’re happy with their contribution.
“It was a useful experience for all the players as the match was played at high intensity. This is something we badly need to improve in the Maltese league.
“When we meet again later this month, we will analyse the mistakes we committed during the game as well as the good points.”
Malta have yet to break their duck in Group B of the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign after defeats to Armenia (1-0), Italy (2-0) and the Czech Republic (3-1) but Wednesday’s success extended their positive run in friendlies after away wins over Luxembourg (2-0) and San Marino (3-2) last summer.
Morale booster
The Liechtenstein game being Malta’s final international match this year, Ghedin talked up the psychological benefits of his team’s victory.
“It’s a psychological boost for us,” Ghedin said. “Had we lost this game, we’d have ruined all the good work we’ve done this year. And an away win has added value.”
Andrew Hogg, now playing for Cypriot club Neon Enosis Paralimni, has been Malta’s no.1 for much of the past two years but in Vaduz, Ghedin handed a start to Justin Haber who played the full 90 minutes.
“I picked Justin Haber to help him psychologically,” Ghedin said.
“It’s important to make all the players feel that they belong to a system, a group, and that it’s not always about the first 11.”
With Michael Mifsud missing, the captain’s armband was passed on to Dimech who marked his 72nd appearance for Malta with a terrific performance.
Indeed, Dimech’s bold showings in the heart of defence this year have justified Ghedin’s continued faith in the experienced defender who, at one time, had decided to call time on his international career after being frozen out by John Buttigieg.
Ghedin was full of praise for Dimech.
“He (Dimech) was the best player out there,” the Malta coach said. “He was an excellent captain for us, making sure that Michael Mifsud was not missed.”