Malta’s Alfred Effiong (right) tries to launch an attack against Norway. Photo: Paul Zammit Cutajar

Pietro Ghedin had no qualms about the merits of Norway’s 2-0 victory in Saturday’s Euro 2016 Group H qualifier.

The Italian coach readily acknowledged that Malta had been well and truly beaten by a better team that played with purpose, guile and intensity for virtually the entire 90 minutes.

Norway had been expected to crank up the heat on Malta from the word go but their relentless probing and pressing impressed our national coach.

“Norway were very aggressive, maintaining a high intensity for the whole match,” Ghedin said.

“I was really impressed. Norway certainly have a bright future as they have many promising, young players.

“This was the most difficult game for us but my players battled hard. I’m proud of my team as they gave their all from the first till the last minute. I can only say thank you to my players for their effort.

“Now we have another game against Croatia. We will do our best to recover but we should be fine.”

The result was never in doubt from the moment Alexander Tettey fired Norway ahead after 19 minutes on Saturday. They had the points wrapped up inside the hour after Alexander Soderlund added a second, prompting coach Per-Mathias Hogmo to haul off his key players, including captain Per-Ciljan Skjelbred, ahead of tomorrow’s crucial clash away to Italy.

“The rhythm set by Norway was very elevated,” Ghedin added.

“In Malta, they beat us by three goals but they played better in this game.

“In a way, we were fortunate to lose by only two goals but at the same time we also had a great chance to score late in the first half when Alfred Effiong was through on goal.”

Defender Andrei Agius agreed with Ghedin that the Oslo qualifier was very tough but bemoaned the perpetual frailties of our football which, he claims, are hindering the progress of the Maltese national team.

“I agree that this was one of the most difficult games for us, also because of the circumstances for Norway who had to win at all costs to maintain their challenge for direct qualification (for Euro 2016),” the centre-half said.

“That said, I think that we could have done better, especially when we had possession.

“People have been paying us compliments for the way we defend but the problem is that you need to score to gain something.”

Malta must put the Norway defeat behind them and refocus their minds on tomorrow’s last Group H outing at home to Croatia which has become decisive as the race for the second qualifying spot has gone down to the wire.

With one match remaining, Norway are second on 19 points, two ahead of Croatia on 17 while the unbeaten Italy have already sealed their berth in next year’s European Championship.

“It’s going to be difficult as Croatia have to win this game and wait for Norway’s result,” Agius said.

“I’m disappointed because we have lost here, you can’t be happy after a defeat. The way you react after these type of performances against strong opponents is quite straightforward.

“You have to reset to a starting position, analyse the opposition and do your best to try and take something from the game.”

For Malta, the objective is to conclude another up-and-down qualifying phase on a dignified note.

“Our campaign has been neither positive nor disastrous, I would say it is somewhere in between,” the straight-talking Agius admitted.

“But we need to build and assess properly what are the problems afflicting Maltese football.

“People put blame on coaches, players, etc but the problem is simple... before we become truly professionals and send our most promising youngsters abroad we will keep repeating the same things.”

Indeed, the tempo and intensity of Norway on Saturday accentuated the weaknesses in our football which, for decades on end, has been criticised for being slow and too predictable.

“Rhythm, physical strength and facilities... in 2015 we are still debating whether we should water the pitches in Malta when this is standard practice elsewhere,” Agius said.

“It’s also one of the factors why the rhythm of the game goes up because a pass doesn’t take two seconds from one player to another.”

Meanwhile, the players who started Saturday’s qualifier had a recovery session at the hotel yesterday morning while the remaining 12 players took part in a training session at a nearby ground.

Defender Steve Borg suffered a knock on his knee but is expected to be fine for tomorrow.