The challenge was an arduous one but Malta were not found wanting.
Croatia away was always going to be a daunting opener for Malta but the general feeling after the game was that our players had given everything to the cause.
It’s always hard to be upbeat after a defeat and, as is their wont, the doom-mongers would argue that in football, it’s the results that count.
They might also contend that there is little satisfaction to be had from an honourable defeat but, considering that Malta played for an hour with 10 men following Steve Borg’s 30th-minute dismissal, the players certainly deserve some credit, if anything for showing character and commitment.
Even with 11 men, Malta would probably have lost on Tuesday, given the chasm between the two teams which is also borne out by their positions in the FIFA rankings (Croatia are ranked 16th, Malta 150th).
However, until Borg was given his marching orders for lashing out at Mario Mand-zukic after being clattered by the Atletico Madrid striker, the visiting team had been coping well with the pressure.
Malta coach Pietro Ghedin lamented the red card incident but that didn’t dampen his satisfaction at the team’s resolute display.
“That’s my only regret,” Ghedin said of Borg’s dismissal and the 2-0 defeat.
“We held out in the first half.
“Ours was a good performance and I still believe that this squad can do more. But the players have been great especially in the way they adjusted to the new tactical system.
“We did well on the flanks, Steve Bezzina was good after coming on in the first half, Clayton Failla also and Steve Borg was doing his part before the red card.
“Shame really that Borg committed a stupid foul at that particular time of the match.
“Nevertheless, the players showed great commitment and character. I’m proud of them. I was pleased with their fight against formidable opponents.”
As the lowest seeded team in a qualifying group also containing Italy, Bulgaria, Norway and Azerbaijan, Malta will have to defy the odds if they are to collect some points but their cohesive showing in Zagreb has enhanced Ghedin’s optimism.
“It makes me dream,” Ghedin said of Malta’s performance.
“This squad is capable of doing some good things and that is what I’m thinking about right now.
“We were very compact but the team still lack something in attack, particularly when it comes to moving up in support of the strikers... but we can’t have everything at one go.
“At the moment, Maltese football has a shortage of wingers. You can either field two wide attacking players who cannot defend or you can have two flank defenders who don’t push forward.”
With Jonathan Caruana out injured, Borg’s dismissal posed something of a conundrum for Ghedin as his defensive options were restricted.
His decision to deploy Bezzina, a left-footed player, as right-back, will have been met with a few raised eyebrows but, after a shaky start, the Balzan man grew in stature.
Ghedin is adamant that the flank defenders in his squad are adept at swapping positions.
“Steve Borg is essentially a centre-half but he is also being used on the right by Valletta,” Ghedin said.
“Bezzina is left-footed but this was not the first time he played on the right as I tried him in that position in a friendly.
“Even Failla can move out to the right. The most important thing is that they are willing to adapt to new positions.”
All players in the team had a good outing in Zagreb, from keeper Andrew Hogg right through to André Schembri who was alone up front after captain Michael Mifsud made way for Bezzina following Borg’s red card.
Muscat’s push
Another encouraging aspect emerging from Tuesday’s qualifier was the confident performance of Zach Muscat.
Having just turned 21, the Birkirkara defender had a ‘baptism of fire’ as it was his first start in a competitive match for Malta after making his debut as a substitute in the 1-0 friendly defeat to Slovakia.
Ghedin said: “That is very positive. Zach is now pushing for a first-team place.”
Indeed, the promotion of five players from the U-21 squad – Muscat, Bjorn Kristensen, Ryan Scicluna, Jean Paul Farrugia and Steve Pisani – plus the inclusion of Bezzina appears to have had the desired effect as they increased the competition for places.
In this context, the Malta FA’s decision to appoint Ray ‘Zazu’ Farrugia as Ghedin’s right-hand man is also paying dividends as the U-21 players can relate to Farrugia who was their mentor for three years.
His bubbly presence has had an uplifting effect on the entire squad.
With the opening qualifier done and dusted, Malta’s attention now turns to the home matches against Norway (October 10) and Italy (October 13).
Ghedin is expected to announce his squad in the last week of September as the players are to report back for international duty on October 2.
This week, Italy launched their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Norway and Bulgaria edged Azerbaijan 2-1.
“I expected better from Azerbaijan,” Ghedin said of their home defeat to Bulgaria on Tuesday.
“But, I’m not surprised about Italy’s win. Norway are a tough, physical team but Italy are technically superior.”
‘No easy match’ – Kovac
Coach Niko Kovac was pleased that Croatia had launched their qualifying campaign on a winning note but also paid tribute to Malta for the challenge produced.
“I was impressed with Malta,” Kovac said.
“It was not easy to beat them as they played very well, especially in defence. But, we have achieved our target and we have three important points to start off with this qualification campaign.”
While praising the attitude of his players who “are eager to play matches and are getting better and better”, Kovac indicated that he was not satisfied with his team’s showing in the first half.
“We will analyse the match to see where we made mistakes,” he said.
“The objective is to play well the entire 90 minutes. Maybe against Malta it was not the case but that is our goal.
“Bulgaria will be our next opponents and it will be a totally different game.”
Luka Modric acknowledged that Malta made it difficult for Croatia.
“This was far from easy as Malta defended strongly, even when they were down to 10 players,” Modric told uefa.com.
“But we opened the second half with the goal and that made our job easier. At the end, we could have scored more goals but the three points are the most important thing.”
Modric marked his 29th birthday with a fine strike that put Croatia ahead, ending a three-year goal drought for the national team. The Real Madrid playmaker insisted that goals are not his priority.
“Yes, I scored my first goal after three years for the national team but it’s not a relief... why should it be?” Modric asked.
“I was never crazily hungry for goals, the team is always first for me.”
Next fixtures
Group A
October 10: Latvia vs Iceland; The Netherlands vs Kazakhstan; Turkey vs Czech Republic.
Group B
October 10: Belgium vs Andorra; Cyprus vs Israel; Wales vs Bosnia.
Group C
October 10: Belarus vs Ukraine; Macedonia vs Luxembourg; Slovakia vs Spain.
Group D
October 11: Ireland vs Gibraltar; Scotland vs Georgia; Poland vs Germany.
Group E
October 9: England vs San Marino; Lithuania vs Estonia; Slovenia vs Switzerland.
Group F
October 11: Romania vs Hungary; Finland vs Greece; N. Ireland vs F. Islands.
Group G
October 9: Liechtenstein vs Montenegro; Moldova vs Austria; Sweden vs Russia.
Group H
October 10: Bulgaria vs Croatia; Italy vs Azerbaijan; Malta vs Norway.
Group I
October 11: Armenia vs Serbia; Albania vs Denmark.