With Norway and Croatia both in contention to secure an automatic berth in next year’s European Championship, Malta are braced for two gruelling tests in their final Group H qualifiers.

As the Malta FA yesterday began its build-up for the October 13 clash with Croatia at the National Stadium, Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA general secretary admitted to being more fazed by the away game against Norway on October 10.

“Our last game is against Croatia but three days earlier we have another match away to Norway,” Vassallo told a news conference.

“I must admit that I have a few concerns about this match because our team finds the going tough against Scandinavian nations as their playing style is different.

“While our results in the last few years show that Malta has closed the gap on bigger European nations not so can be said of Scandinavian teams.

“We lost 3-0 at home to Norway last year and we were never in the game.

“In the previous World Cup qualifying campaign, we suffered a 6-0 rout to Denmark in our final outing.

“At home, we had only lost 2-1 to Denmark but thereafter results against Scandinavian teams were not very encouraging.

“Both Norway and Croatia can still qualify directly for the Euro 2016 finals. There are still six points at stake and both teams will be doing their utmost to take maximum spoils.”

On a more upbeat note, Vassallo said Malta now commands greater respect in international football after a series of positive showings.

“We had the opportunity to speak to many presidents of the national associations affiliated with UEFA at last week’s Top Executive Programme Meeting in Malta,” Vassallo reflected.

“The officials of the other associations look at us as a nation that has significantly raised its footballing level. They no longer consider Malta to be in the same bracket as the likes of San Marino, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein.”

Malta now have two points from eight games after their 2-2 home draw against Azerbaijan, on five points, in their last qualifier.

At the top of Group H, Italy have all but achieved qualification as they have 18 points, two ahead of Norway and four clear of Croatia who have been docked one point for their fans’ racist behaviour.

Croatia’s qualifying campaign has been marred by a spate of incidents involving their notorious fans.

The Malta FA have had to alter their ticket sales procedure and take extra precautionary measures ahead of Croatia’s visit next month to minimise the risk of trouble.

In 2005, Croatian fans had caused mayhem at the National Stadium at the end of a 2006 World Cup qualifier which ended one-all.

In light of recent incidents, the Croatian FA are discouraging fans from going to away games, saying that they will not provide tickets to travelling fans, but a sizeable number of supporters still turned up for the qualifier against Norway earlier this month.

Croatia lost 2-0, a defeat that led to the dismissal of coach Niko Kovac who has since been replaced by Ante Cacic.

Norman Saliba, the marketing manager at the MFA, explained that, for security reasons, tickets for next month’s Malta-Croatia game can’t be bought online. This is being done to prevent Croatian fans acquiring tickets in sections reserved for home supporters.

Saliba said tickets sold to foreigners will contain their personal details. The West A (Enclosure) will house the guests of the Croatian FA while tickets for the away section (North Stand) will only be available on matchday.

Asked whether the additional security measures may cause alarm among the local sporting public, Vassallo replied: “The Croatian FA requested our assitance and UEFA have also been in touch to ask for greater security.

“We have played Croatia after the 2005 incidents and everything went smooth.

“But this is a difficult period for Croatia. They have problems with two groups of hooligans who only travel to games to cause trouble.

“We need to take the necessary precautions but there is certainly no cause for alarm.”

Croatian police officers are expected to travel to Malta to identify potential troublemakers and assist their Maltese counterparts.

Vassallo explained that anyone acquiring more than one ticket will be asked to provide his/her personal details to facilitate the identification process if the need arose.

Jordan friendly

Meanwhile, Vassallo has confirmed that Malta will be playing a friendly match against Jordan in November.

The invitation to play Jordan was made by Prince Ali, one of the declared candidates for the FIFA presidency who was strongly backed by MFA president Norman Darmanin Demajo at the last election.

Vassallo revealed that the two associations are discussing the possibility of staging the November friendly in Europe.