Pietro Ghedin is bracing himself for a stern test as Malta take on Azerbaijan in a friendly match in Baku this evening (kick-off 6pm).
The energy-sapping journey to the Azeri capital on Monday left the players exhausted but their last trip to this part of Eurasia two months ago had ended on an excellent note as Malta pulled off a 1-0 win over Armenia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.
Although there are no points at stake today, it is nevertheless a useful exercise ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign resumption next month when Ghedin’s men host Denmark and Bulgaria at the National Stadium on September 6 and 10 respectively.
“The tiring journey aside, everything is fine and our aim is to do well,” Ghedin told Times of Malta.
“We are facing a strong Azerbaijan team who are placed better than us in their World Cup qualifying group. They only lost 1-0 to Russia away from home.
“It’s definitely going to be a tough test, moreso as we’re playing this friendly away from home, but we will try to play our game.”
Azerbaijan have four points from seven matches in Group F while Malta have three in Group B thanks to the solitary win over Armenia in June.
In their last qualifier, Azerbaijan drew 1-1 at home to Luxembourg.
Ghedin has taken 20 players to Baku but missing from his squad are three first-choice defenders in Valletta duo Jonathan Caruana and Luke Dimech and Sliema Wanderers captain Alex Muscat.
Caruana is recovering from injury while Dimech and Muscat have been left out as they are suspended for the Denmark qualifier.
Another notable absentee from Ghedin’s party is goalkeeper Andrew Hogg who has been granted permission to skip the game as his new Greek team Kalloni have a match on Friday.
Daniel Bogdanovic, who recently joined Floriana, has also missed the trip as he is struggling with a niggling injury.
On the plus side, experienced defender Andrei Agius, who has just signed for Italian Serie C2 side Sassari Torres, is back in the frame after missing the Armenia qualifier in June.
Agius is a safe bet to start at centre-half alongside Ryan Camilleri who has been included in the squad after shaking off the injury that kept him out of last week’s Super Cup match.
The presence of four uncapped players in Malta’s squad, namely Sliema trio Jacob Borg, Mark Scerri and Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, and Tarxien goalkeeper Nicky Vella, indicates a willingness on Ghedin’s part to try some new players.
Scerri could be a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up as the Wanderers powerhouse, who has mostly played as a midfielder in his career, is known to have impressed Ghedin in a wide defensive position during training.
“This is a useful test for us as we have to evaluate certain aspects of our game,” Ghedin said.
“Luke Dimech, Jonathan Caruana and Alex Muscat are all un-available but this friendly gives me the opportunity to look at other options.”
At the pre-match news conference yesterday, Ghedin was asked if he saw any similarities between the standard of Sliema, who suffered a narrow 2-1 aggregate defeat to Azeri team Khazar Lankaran in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, and the Maltese national side.
“Our approach is different from Sliema’s,” Ghedin replied.
“We have three Sliema players, all newcomers, in our squad but this is the national side and the style of play and mentality are different from club level.”
Meanwhile, today’s game holds special significance for Ivan Vella as it marks the 10th year since his appointment as manager of the national teams.
Vella’s first assignment was the friendly between Luxembourg and Malta, played on August 19, 2003, which ended 1-1.