Croatia 2
Modric 46; Kramaric 82;
Malta 0

There is no joy in defeat but this Malta team deserve enormous credit for this indefatigable showing.

It was never going to be easy for Malta to keep Croatia, described by national coach Pietro Ghedin as one of the best teams in Europe, at bay in their opening Euro 2016 Group H qualifier but when Steve Borg was shown a straight red on the half-hour for retaliation, an already daunting task became mission impossible.

Croatia, teeming with world-class players like Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, of Barcelona, dictated the tempo for long spells but how they were made to fight hard for the points by the Maltese players whose never-say-die attitude in the face of adversity was extraordinary.

Cynics will probably claim that, at the end of the day, Malta had nothing to show for their efforts as Croatia emerged 2-0 winners but such verdict would be grossly unfair on Ghedin’s men.

Some context is required to appreciate the effort of the Maltese team.

A Croatia victory in their home game against a team ranked 150th in the world was surely not the most difficult result to predict but Malta were not prepared to roll over.

Although Borg’s dismissal in-evitably left them with a mountain to climb, Malta did well to keep a clean sheet in the first half as Croatia were booed off the pitch by their fans at half-time.

Modric’s opener inside the first minute of the second half settled Croatian nerves but, despite dominating possession, the hosts still found it difficult to add to their lead as the Maltese players put their bodies on the line to ward off a series of shots while goalkeeper Andrew Hogg was outstanding.

Malta’s valiant showing again vindicated Ghedin’s decision to switch to 3-5-2 as the central defenders, Andrei Agius, Zach Muscat, deputising for the injured Jonathan Caruana, and Ryan Camilleri were colossal.

The midfielders also ran and harried with Rowen Muscat, Paul Fenech and Ryan Fenech covering acres of ground and also moving the ball forward intelligently when Malta tried to counter-attack.

Captain Michael Mifsud departed early after being substituted following Borg’s dismissal but up font, Malta still had an effective outlet in the unflappable André Schembri who was one of the game’s stand-out players.

Having fashioned the game’s opening chance in the early stages, Schembri was immense, putting pressure on defenders, shielding the ball, bringing team-mates into play and also dropping back to defend.

Despite the sour taste of defeat, Malta will take heart from this performance ahead of their qualifiers against Norway and Italy next month.

As if the task awaiting Malta in this opening Euro 2016 qualifier was not formidable enough, Croatia headed into the game riding a wave of patriotism after Marin Cilic’s triumph at the US Open.

Niko Kovac’s team selection contained a few surprises as Hrvoje Milic, the Osijek defender, was preferred to Danijel Pranjic while young Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Marcelo Brozovic started ahead of the more experienced Ivica Olic.

The tactical approach was 4-2-3-1 with Modric and Rakitic pulling the strings in midfield and Mario Mandzukic deployed as lone striker.

Malta were off to a bright start, threatening to take a shock lead inside the opening two minutes.

Latching on to a long Borg throw-in, Schembri turned adroitly in the box before hitting an angled drive that was beaten away by Danijel Subasic.

With Croatia teetering at the back, the loose ball dropped to Rowen Muscat who skewed his shot wide.

By way of reply, Croatia had a Mandzukic header, from Rakitic’s corner, going over the bar. Hogg was then alert to fist away a menacing cross from captain Darijo Srna.

Croatia’s possession count grew.

Ten minutes into the game, Rowen Muscat threw his body in the way Alen Halilovic’s drive after good work by Modric.

Not that Malta were backing off.

An exquisite interchange bet-ween Ryan Fenech and Schembri drew gasps of admiration from the crowd.

Another corner from Rakitic triggered a goalmouth scramble but Dejan Lovren, sliding in, failed to connect with the ball properly.

A hasty clearance from Hogg put Malta in a spot of bother as Halilovic was first to the ball but Agius, flawless so far, closed down the Croatian winger.

Most of Croatia’s promising moves flowed from the feet of Modric and Rakitic but Malta were giving nothing away at the back.

Malta’s industrious performance in the opening 20 minutes evoked memories of their resilient showing in the 2-1 defeat back in 1999 when Josif Ilic was in charge. The Serb was present for yesterday’s qualifier.

The game threw up its first contentious episode on the half-hour and it proved costly for Malta.

Borg appeared to swing an arm at Mandzukic as the two tangled for possession near the touchline. Russian referee Vladislav Bezborodov cautioned the Croatia forward before brandishing the red card to dismiss Borg, leaving Malta to plod on with 10 men.

Later, the Malta defender apologised to his team-mates for his actions.

Ghedin promptly withdrew Mifsud, a striker, brought on Steve Bezzina who took up the right-back role and switched to 5-3-1.

This setback failed to undermine Malta’s concentration but, unsurprisingly, Croatia intensified their pressure.

Five minutes from half-time, Hogg made himself big in the box to palm away Milic’s cross.

After the Malta goalkeeper had pushed away Halilovic’s ferocious drive, Mandzukic headed just over from Rakitic’s resultant corner.

Croatia came out for the second half determined to make their technical superiority count.

It took them less than a minute to open the scoring as Modric, profiting from the open space in front of him, unleashed an angled shot that had the better of Hogg.

The hosts stayed on the front foot. Ten minutes into the second half, Brozovic teed up Halilovic who raced clear but his rising effort was off target.

Croatia were now stroking the ball across the pitch in a bid to open up the crowded Malta defence but the white-shirted players showed poise and composure every time they ventured out of defence with Schembri’s ability to hold the ball clearly giving the team a breather.

Malta were let off the hook when Brozovic’s effort was diverted wide and, from Rakitic’s corner, Modric’s effort was deflected over the bar.

Substitute Andrej Kramaric then toyed with the Maltese defenders on the edge of the box but his chip came off the crossbar.

In a rare breakaway, Bjorn Kristensen, who had just replaced Rowen Muscat, fired wide.

Malta suffered a second goal eight minutes from time. Jelavic ad-vanced through the middle before picking out substitute Andrej Kramaric who drilled the ball home.

Hogg then prevented a third goal when keeping out Brozovic’s grounder and, with three minutes remaining, touched away Jelavic’s goalbound header.

With Malta showing signs of tiredness, Croatia pressed for more but they found Hogg in the way as he produced another top-drawer save to deny Brozovic.

Aftermatch comments...

Pietro Ghedin (Malta coach “I am pleased with the overall performance of my players. We played for an hour with 10 men after the dismissal of Steve Borg but we reacted well and played a very good match against a star-studded side.

“Today, we introduced a number of home-grown players in this project of renovation. I hope that for the upcoming home matches against Italy and Norway, the Maltese fans will rally behind our players to help them maintain this encouraging start.”

Croatia: D. Subasic, H. Milic, V. Corluka, D. Lovren, I. Rakitic, A. Halilovic (67 A. Kramaric), L. Modric, D. Srna, M. Brozovic, M. Mandzukic (80 I. Olic), M. Kovacic (46 N. Jelavic).

Malta: A. Hogg, S. Borg, A. Agius, R. Fenech, C. Failla, P. Fenech (87 R. Scicluna), M. Mifsud (34 S. Bezzina), A. Schembri, R. Muscat (76 B. Kristensen), R. Camilleri, Z. Muscat.

Referee: V. Bezborodov (Russia).

Yellow cards: Mandzukic; R. Fenech

Red card: Borg (M) 30.

Malta players' ratings
Hogg-8, Borg, Agius-8, R. Fenech-7, C. Failla-6.5, P. Fenech-7, Mifsud-6, Schembri-8, R. Muscat-6.5, Camilleri-7, Z. Muscat-7.

Subs: Bezzina-6.5.