The news last week that Malta have replaced Macedonia, who were disqualified by LEN, in the play-offs stage of the Euro 2014 Waterpolo Championship could be regarded as a Christmas present for the local game, a windfall which has rewarded our team’s massive efforts in the qualifying stages during the year about to end.
The superb displays of 2013 culminated in the last qualifying round in Portugal where the national team placed third in the group and seventh overall out of 17 countries in all three groups, to be next in line for a chance to progress further in the competition.
Malta have thus moved up one place to at least 17th in the European rankings.
Coach Karl Izzo echoed these feelings in a comment to The Sunday Times of Malta.
“We are all very happy after we got the news that we qualified for the semi-final play-offs in the absence of Macedonia,” Izzo said.
“The boys will now have to slightly anticipate their preparation before facing France in a two-legged tie in Montpellier on February 15 and then Malta on March 1.
“The French are very strong and according to my calculations they collected most points in the qualification tournaments. It will be very tough for us but we will do our utmost to get the best possible result.
“After that we will continue with our build-up to an eight-nation tournament in Ireland prior to the Commonwealth Championships in Scotland.”
This means that the first four to five months of 2014 will be an intensive period for the national team to be followed by the players’ travails in the local competitive season, unless plans will have to be re-scheduled in the event of an unlikely qualification for the 12-team continental championship in Budapest in July.
Despite having to replace some seasoned players Izzo managed to mould a squad around captain Niki Lanzon, Steve Camilleri, Matthew Zammit, Mark Meli and goalkeeper Alan Borg Cole.
The other players in the squad clicked perfectly as the coach rang some tactical changes which in the end proved to be very fruitful.
“The qualifying stages were also marked by a most welcome bond among all the players, reflecting a togetherness outside the pool as much as inside it. This, too, helped to bring about desired results which surprised bigger nations,” the Malta coach said.
“The team will definitely work hard to fulfil their ambitions of upholding the newly-acquired prestige on the stage of the continental game.
“We will keep working towards this end and the forthcoming Commonwealth Championships will hopefully be a stepping stone to improve our standings.”
Revised play-offs draw
Georgia vs Turkey; Netherlands vs Russia; France vs Malta; Slovakia vs Croatia; Romania vs Great Britain; Ukraine vs Spain.
Ties: February 15 and March 1.