Now that the qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 is over, I believe that it is a good time to share some reflections on the state of Malta’s national football team.

First, I must congratulate all those involved in putting up quite a creditable performance overall.

Credit should be given to the administrators, the coaching staff, the players themselves, and last but certainly not least, the national football team supporters.

Let us start by looking at the statistics. We finished last once again in our qualifying group with two points, i.e. two draws, from ten games played. We scored three goals and conceded sixteen. Now this is quite an improvement on the past when there were instances where we finished up with a very small number of goals scored and an enormous number of goals conceded.

Furthermore, it is very gratifying to note that we were never humiliated. Our worst defeat was a 0-3 loss to Norway, very different from the days when we were defeated 9-0 or the infamous 12-1 defeat against Spain, not that long ago in 1983.

Perceptive followers of the game have also pointed out to me one other very important superlative: our players today have been inculcated with the right psychological approach, that is they feel inferior to none and they are not overawed when they meet much more quoted opposition.

Many of us still remember the days when games were lost before they even started because our players back then considered themselves vastly inferior to their opponents.

This lack of self-esteem was evident even among several administrators, some of the coaching staff and the majority of national team supporters. Thank God, this self-defeating approach now belongs to the past.

Some readers will by now be commenting that I seem to be describing a team that has finished top of its qualifying group and that I may seem to have forgotten that we finished last without a single win. No, I have not, but credit should be given where it is due. Let me now turn to the technical part of the game and, in doing so, deal with those aspects which definitely need to be improved.

I may seem to have forgotten that we finished last without a single win. No, I have not, but credit should be given where it is due

One of the greatest problems that we have is the limited pool of potential national team players. This is a demographic problem about which we can do nothing. We still lack strength in depth in our national team squads. It is obvious that some of the reserve team players are not of the same calibre as the regulars. As such, they struggle when called upon to play from the start due to the injury or suspension of a regular player.

Great improvement can be seen in the technical aspect of our game. Passing of the ball, especially in tight situations, has greatly improved and attacks are well constructed. However, we still tend to lose concentration at important moments of the game. Let us be honest with ourselves: how many of the sixteen goals conceded could have been avoided through greater concentration and precision?

The answer is: several of them because we also suffered some really soft goals. We have to keep in mind that we are up against clinically efficient professionals who will mercilessly punish even the slightest error. You cannot relax your concentration during a set piece or take too much time to settle down during a game.

It is also a fact that our national team finds it extremely difficult to find the opponent’s net. Scoring three goals in ten games is not exactly the stuff of which a winning team is made. Here, of course, one has to consider mitigating circumstances. To keep the number of goals conceded as low as possible, the national team very often plays an ultra-defensive game with fast counter-attack.

Indeed, today many teams, both at club and at national level, play this kind of game. Still, I believe that scoring goals is an aspect of our game that needs improving. When you know beforehand that your style of play, your tactical approach to the game will mean that throughout 90 minutes plus, you are only going to get one or two scoring opportunities, you cannot afford to miss these few scoring chances that will befall you.

As we move towards the World Cup Qualifying campaign where Malta starts with a home game against Scotland on September 4, 2016, it pays to reflect on the past Euro 2016 campaign. Overall, I would venture to say that one can be satisfied with what has been achieved. However, our aim for the World Cup Qualifying campaign should be to continue improving our game and to aim at obtaining at least two wins and two draws, a total of eight points when all games will have been played.

Am I dreaming? Maybe, but that is how former minnows like Iceland have made such gigantic strides. You have to dream of success first to be able, one day, to turn your dream into reality.