Malta are well-placed to advance to the qualifying group stage of the 2017 Women’s European Championship but coach Mark Gatt is not taking anything for granted ahead of tomorrow’s final preliminary-round match against Faroe Islands at the Victor Tedesco Stadium (kick-off 11am).

The Maltese girls are on a high after wins over Andorra (5-3) and Georgia (2-1) have left them needing only a point from tomorrow’s game to qualify for the next round but Gatt insisted that his players are keeping their feet on the ground.

Photo: Paul Zammit CutajarPhoto: Paul Zammit Cutajar

“We know that every positive performance and result for our team brings a lot of satisfaction but we’re not taking anything for granted,” Gatt, who succeeded Pierre Brincat as Malta women’s coach earlier this year, told a news conference at the Seabank Hotel this afternoon.

“In the final two games, anything can happen and our feet are firmly planted the ground. The other teams are also determined to finish first in the group.”

With three points from two games, Faroe Islands must beat Malta to stand a chance of going through but coach Jon Pauli Olsen has not given up hope on his team’s chances.

“It has been a very exciting tournament so far,” Olsen said.

“Anything can happen in the final matches. Malta are the big favourites because they have six points but three teams can still advance.”

After losing 2-0 to Georgia in their opening game, Faroe Islands hammered Andorra 8-0 to improve their goal difference to +6.

Georgia, also on three points, can still qualify if, as expected, they beat Andorra today at the National Stadium and the result of the Malta-Faroe Islands game goes their way.

According to the competition regulations, if two or more teams in the same group are equal on points at the end of a mini-tournament, the three main criteria to determine the rankings are:

a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;

b) superior goal difference resulting from the group matches played among the teams in question;

c) higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question.

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