Saturday’s loss in Baku was hard to stomach for the Maltese players but the team’s showing in the second half has galvanised Jonathan Caruana’s belief that they can hold their own against their fellow minnows in the home encounter.

“I think we are as good as them,” the Valletta defender, who turned in a reassuring display in Saturday’s qualifier, told Times of Malta.

“Even Azerbaijan knew this because, in the second half, they looked hesitant. I believe that we have a chance of finishing ahead of Azerbaijan in the group standings.”

A mainstay of the Malta defence for much of the past decade, Caruana has played in a back four system and as one of three central defenders in a five-man backline, the module favoured by Ghedin in this group.

Quizzed about Malta’s tactical woes in the first half, Caruana provided an interesting insight into what may have gone wrong.

“In the first half, we played with five at the back.

“In my opinion, we found it difficult to keep our tactical shape because Azerbaijan approached the game differently from teams like Croatia.

“Azerbaijan were cautious, their flank defenders hardly pressed forward but the situation is different when facing teams like Croatia because their wide players like to attack.

“We were in difficulty on Saturday because initially we didn’t know how to cope with Azerbaijan’s gameplan but our performance improved significantly after we switched to four at the back.”

Malta coach Pietro Ghedin used the word ‘undeserved’ to describe Saturday’s defeat. Caruana agreed.

“The 2-0 scoreline was harsh on us,” the 28-year-old said.

“They had three shots at goal and scored twice. The second goal came in the last minute after a good chance for us but football can be cruel at times.”

Bulgaria at home are up next for Malta on June 12. Although Caruana remains upbeat, he warned against the pitfalls of raising expectations on the basis of the 1-1 draw in Sofia last November.

“That will be another tough game,” Caruana said.

“We are a stronger team at home but we can’t afford to think that, just because we managed to draw 1-1 with Bulgaria away, we will gain a positive result at home.

“Bulgaria held Italy (2-2) in another group match on Saturday and that says a lot about their strength. We need to take it game by game.”

As always, Malta’s defeat to Azerbaijan will reignite the debate about the progress, or otherwise, of the national team.

“There has been improvement,” Caruana said.

“I haven’t been around long enough to make comparisons with past teams but I feel we have made progress, especially in tactical terms.

“There’s more self-belief and confidence and the results we have achieved in many friendly games as well as the 1-0 win over Armenia and the draw against Bulgaria attest to this.”

• Kevin Azzopardi has travelled to Azerbaijan courtesy of Turkish Airlines.

Turkish Airlines connects you from Malta to 108 countries through Istanbul, flying to 266 airports worldwide. Flight frequencies from Malta to Istanbul are being increased to 13 flights weekly by June 22.

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