Malta 0
Italy 2
Balotelli 8 pen, 45;

Luck favours the brave, the saying goes.

Pitched in a daunting encounter with heavyweights Italy at a buzzing National Stadium, Malta were bold and brave but their indefatigable effort was not enough to deliver the positive result the whole nation craved.

Optimism of a morale-boosting outcome for Malta had been in scarce supply not only because Pietro Ghedin’s men were up against a footballing giant but moreso because they came into this showdown on the back of a 6-0 hiding to Bulgaria on Friday.

Such a humiliating defeat cranked up the pressure on Malta to restore a modicum of pride with a rousing showing against the Azzurri spearheaded by Serie A stars like Gianluigi Buffon, Mario Balotelli, Claudio Marchisio and Andrea Pirlo.

Egged on by over 17,000 enthusiastic fans, Malta were a transformed side from the Sofia debacle, harrying Italy all over the pitch in a bid to limit the pressure and breaking forward with verve when in possession with Andrè Schembri embodying our team’s endeavours with a great shift in midfield.

The home troops managed to keep Balotelli at bay for most of the game but ‘Super Mario’ was not to be denied as he scored a double to propel Italy to a 2-0 victory that reinforces their iron grip on top spot in Group B.

It was a business-like performance from the visitors, who switched to cruise control in the second half, but their success, although deserved given their technical supremacy, was not in keeping with expectations of a goal-laden win.

It says all about Malta’s gallant performance that the players were applauded off the field by the crowd at the final whistle.

However, the pride and satisfaction of the players and fans was tempered by the knowledge that the team should have scored a goal or two after Michael Mifsud, who had a penalty saved by Buffon, rattled the crossbar with a thunderous shot in the first half.

Balotelli’s second goal, on the cusp of half-time, eased Italy’s nerves and restored some normality to the game but it failed to dampen admiration for a spirited showing by the home team.

Thousands of fans began to make their way to Ta’ Qali hours before kick-off. The south stand was brimming with enthusiasm as members of the South End Core went to great lengths to ramp up support for the home side.

The sight of several fans waging Maltese flags eased pre-match fears that the majority of the home fans would side with Italy. This impression was further reinforced when loud jeers reverberated around the stadium when the announcer read out the names of the Italy players.

On the eve of the game, Ghedin declared that he was not planning to revamp his formation after the Bulgaria defeat but the Italian elected to make no fewer than four changes.

Goalkeeper Andrew Hogg and defender Andrei Agius were the two main casualties as they lost their place in the team to Justin Haber and Ryan Camilleri.

Gareth Sciberras, back to full fitness after sitting out the Sofia qualifier with a slight groin problem, replaced Birkirkara team-mate Paul Fenech while Alex Muscat received Ghedin’s nod ahead of Ryan Fenech.

The changes in Malta’s starting XI were not restricted to personnel as Ghedin also indulged in some positional tinkering. Muscat was handed the left-back role with Clayton Failla positioned in front of the Sliema captain. The right-back position was filled by Camilleri who stationed himself behind Edward Herrera.

Valletta duo Luke Dimech and Jonathan Caruana occupied the centre-half roles with Sciberras and Roderick Briffa detailed to carry out screening duties in front of the back four. Schembri took up the advanced midfield role behind Mifsud, the lone striker.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli plumped for Juve’s Emanuele Giaccherini who was preferred to Torino’s Alessio Cerci. Giaccherini’s inclusion meant that Italy’s line-up was made up entirely of Juventus and Milan players yesterday.

Claudio Marchisio and right-back Ignazio Abate returned after missing the Brazil friendly.

Barely 15 seconds from the start of the game had elapsed when Balotelli drew loud boos after losing his balance as he tried to advance inside the box.

Balotelli partnered Stephan El Shaarawy in attack with Giaccherini assigned roaming duties in Prandelli’s 4-3-1-2 formation.

Malta hit the ground running with Herrera an enterprising figure on the right. There was a minor scare for Italy when Mifsud got behind the Italy defence as he chased a long pass but goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was quick off his line.

But, home optimism abated when, in their first attacking foray, Italy were awarded a penalty after Dimech gave away possession as he tried to venture out of the box before making a late tackle on El Shaarawy.

Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuj promptly pointed to the spot and Balotelli beat Haber with an angled chip.

The fans reacted to this early setback with shouts of ‘Malta, Malta’.

Italy fashioned another opportunity when Balotelli released El Shaarawy with a back-heeled pass but the Milan youngster curled the ball wide.

The stadium exploded when a fluid Malta yielded a penalty.

Briffa was the architect as he strode forward through the middle before freeing Schembri who twisted his way through before being brought down by Buffon.

The referee whistled the penalty and booked Buffon but home optimism turned into despair when Mifsud’s shot was repelled by Italy’s no.1.

The sight of an Italy goalkeeeper saving a Malta penalty evoked memories of Kris Laferla’s miss in 1992 when our national side lost 2-1.

Keen to make amends for his miss, Mifsud conjured up a great move as he sped past Leonardo Bonucci before rifling a pulverising shot that rattled the crossbar after taking a slight deflection off Andrea Barzagli.

Malta’s assiduous pressing was causing problems to the Italians as Prandelli dished out instructions from the technical area.

It was not before the 25th minute that Italy fashioned their next chance. El Shaarawy delivered a long pass that invited Riccardo Montolivo to dart through but the Milan midfielder’s lofted effort was high and wide.

Balotelli then created space for a shot but dragged his effort wide.

Buffon was then called upon to push a dangerous Failla free-kick. From the corner, taken by Herrera, Caruana flicked wide.

Danger loomed for Malta when Sciberras pulled down Pirlo just outside the penalty area after the home team had failed to clear an Italy attack. Malta’s relief was palpable when Pirlo’s free-kick glanced off the defensive wall.

Italy reclaimed the upperhand as the first half drew to a close, Montolivo firing over from the distance.

Balotelli was high with a free-kick from the distance but the Milan forward doubled Italy’s lead on the stroke of half-time with an angled effort after the overlapping Mattia Di Sciglio had rounded Herrera in the box.

The second goal was harsh on Malta who had delighted the home fans with their fearless approach as they pushed for an equaliser.

Seven minutes into the second half, Malta came close to reducing the deficit when, from Briffa’s free-kick, the ball dropped to Muscat on the edge of the box but the Sliema defender’s angled effort rolled wide of the far post.

Italy quickly transferred the ball to attack as Abate made headway on the right wing before cutting the ball back to the unmarked Giaccherini who took a heavy first touch before lunging forward to flick the ball goalwards but Haber touched the ball away for a corner.

From the ensuing corner, taken by Pirlo, Barzagli headed wide.

Unperturbed, Malta continued to play good football. This was evident when Briffa guided a through-ball to Mifsud who tried to jink his way through only to be dispossessed by Marchisio. ‘Penalty’ yelled the Malta fans but the referee saw nothing wrong.

Another good chance came Malta’s way when Schembri cut in from the left before passing to Mifsud who managed to barge his way into the box but his final effort was deflected away for a corner by Barzagli.

At the other end, Haber did well to close down the advancing El Shaarawy.

With Italy seemingly content to administer their two-goal cushion, the game entered a lull as the second half approached the halfway mark.

In a rare attacking foray, substitute Antonio Candreva burst clear on the right but his low cross was cut out by Haber.

Ghedin waited until eight minutes from time to make his first substitution, Andrew Cohen coming on for Hibs team-mate Failla.

Loud jeers filled the air when, with four minutes left, Balotelli made way for Alberto Gilardino but the Milan forward was unflustered as he shook hands with a delighted Prandelli... Italy were home and dry.

Malta
J. Haber, J. Caruana, A. Muscat, G. Sciberras, L. Dimech, C. Failla (82 A. Cohen), R. Briffa, M. Mifsud (88 T. Vella), A. Schembri, E. Herrera, R. Camilleri.

Italy
G. Buffon, M. De Sciglio, I. Abate, C. Marchisio, M. Balotelli (86 A. Gilardino), S. El Shaarawy (76 A. Cerci), A. Barzagli, R. Montolivo, L. Bonucci, A. Pirlo, E. Giaccherini (61 A. Candreva).

Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuj (Netherlands).

Missed penalty: Mifsud (M) 16.

Yellow card: Buffon.

Attendance: 17,011.

Malta players’ ratings
Haber-6.5, Caruana-7, Muscat-7.5, Sciberras-6.5, Dimech-6, Failla-6, Briffa-6.5, Mifsud-6, Schembri-8, Herrera-6.5, Camilleri-6.

Match statistics

	Malta	Italy
Shots on target	3	2
Shots off target	5	12
Fouls committed	18	9
Corners	2	5

Aftermatch comments...

Pietro Ghedin (Malta coach)

“I am very satsified with the performance of my players, particularly after last week’s poor showing in Bulgaria.

“However, I rue the missed chances we had in this match. Pity Mifsud did not score the penalty but he is a very generous player and having already scored 36 goals for the national team, he is already in Maltese football hall of fame.

“We had to apply some changes in our line-up today. The match in Sofia was played in difficult conditions and that left its mark. Some of them were tired and not fully recovered.”

Cesare Prandelli (Italy coach)

“We knew it before. Malta are an organised side and they were well prepared for this match. I called on the players to approach the match with the right attitude.

“We had to up the tempo but failed to do so and we had to suffer until the end of the match. When we based our game on quick exchanges we created some goalscoring opportunities but then we relied on possession. We were finding it hard to create spaces inside the Malta defence... perhaps we were somewhat slow in our build-up play.”

Luke Dimech (Malta defender)

“This was an encouraging performance from the Maltese team. We had to lift our game to show that the match in Bulgaria was just a one-off and that the national team can do better than that. I admit my mistake in the penalty incident but the team reacted strongly after that early upset.

“The Italy team is full of star players but I think we should not be ashamed of our performance. In fact, this was the perfect response to those critics who came down so heavily on us after the match in Sofia last week.”

Riccardo Montolivo (Italy midfielder)

“Surely, this was not one of our best matches but you cannot take the credit from the Maltese team who were quick to profit from our slow play in midfield to launch quick breaks and attack our goal. They had chances to score but luckily for us Buffon saved the penalty.

“Had Malta scored, it would have meant extra pressure on us to win this game. At times, we found it so difficult to penetrate. Surely, this wasn’t an easy match for us.”