In the eyes of many, Malta’s friendly against Faroe Islands this evening at the National Stadium is a meaningless, post-competition kickabout between two European minnows but Pietro Ghedin begs to differ.

For the Malta coach treats every game, competitive or not, as an occasion, a challenge for our representative selection to raise its modest image in international football.

“For us, this is not a friendly but an encounter where we have to fight hard to try and obtain a positive result,” Ghedin told reporters at the Grand Hotel Excelsior yesterday.

“We must show that we are up for the challenge. We lose games, sometimes we draw or win, but we must always give our maximum effort.”

For a time, it looked as though Malta had improved sufficiently to shake off their perennial lightweights’ tag as, following the 1-0 win over Armenia in June, Ghedin’s team earned praise for their vibrant performances in the 2-1 qualifying home defeats against Denmark and Bulgaria in September.

That gathering optimism has since vanished as Malta came crashing back to earth after conceding 10 goals in their final two qualifiers against the Czech Republic (4-1) and Denmark (6-0).

Although those two drubbings have sparked a fresh wave of scepticism, Ghedin remains upbeat.

“I hope we reach our maximum level,” Ghedin responded when asked about the standards he was looking to attain.

“I have faith because the players are doing well, they are very committed and serious about their work. I say this from the heart and with great pride.

“We have some interesting youngsters coming through. Everyone here should be working towards a better future but we have to do this together, united, in order to ensure that our young players develop in a positive manner.

“As for the Faroe Islands, they are a small nation like Malta. They do their best to be the first among the small countries but that is also one of our objectives.

“In the FIFA rankings, we’re 140th and that’s a good position, but we can always do better.”

Going by the FIFA classification, Malta should have a distinct edge over Faroe Islands who are ranked 175th, 35 places below our national team, but the head-to-head record suggests otherwise as the Faroese have won the previous three meetings with the Maltese.

Ghedin hopes to reverse that negative trend today.

“I always want to win,” he said.

“We have a situation where we need to re-evaluate some young players but it’s the results that count.

“We will try to give our players as many opportunities as possible but coaches are judged by results.”

While acknowledging that last month’s crushing defeats have dampened his players’ morale, Ghedin remains convinced that the team are on the right track.

“Our progress has been positive but there’s no denying that we could have done more,” the Malta coach remarked.

“The recent slip-ups (against Czech Republic and Denmark) have cost us many points in terms of confidence but we remain positive. We hope to raise our spirits (in today’s friendly) and the players are willing to do that.”

Quizzed about his decision to leave out Sliema Wanderers goalkeeper Henry Bonello, Ghedin said that he has a group of good goalkeepers but made it clear that Justin Haber and Andrew Hogg remained his two main options.

Ghedin hinted that Hogg, who was not in the squad for last month’s qualifiers, is likely to start today as the former Valletta goalkeeper has finally managed to get some first-team action under his belt with Greek club Kalloni.

In defence, Alex Muscat and Clayton Failla are expected to man the flanks with Andrei Agius and Jonathan Caruana in the middle.

Injuries to Birkirkara duo Gareth Sciberras and Rowen Muscat have forced Ghedin to look at other options in central midfield.

The experienced Roderick Briffa is certain to be confirmed in one of the two midfield roles while Ryan Fenech and Mark Scerri are pushing for the other slot.

Andrew Cohen should start on the left wing with Edward Herrera and John Mintoff vying for the right-midfield slot.

In attack, Ghedin will stick to his tried-and-tested partnership of Andrè Schembri and Michael Mifsud, the Malta captain who will be making his 102nd appearance.

Mifsud’s decision to fly all the way from Australia for today’s match drew praise from Ghedin.

“I continued to try till the end because initially Mifsud was reluctant to come,” Ghedin said.

“I have thanked him for his decision. He may not be in the best condition (due to jet lag) but his presence here is important. He’s the symbol of Maltese football.

“I’m very happy that he has understood my point.

“It’s not easy to travel for 28 hours and then fly back the day after the game.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Cohen is optimistic about Malta’s chances of wrapping up their commitments for this year on a good note.

“We need to regain our confidence ahead of this friendly because the defeats against the Czech Republic and Denmark left us shattered,” Cohen said.

The Hibs playmaker admitted that there is some pressure on the players to maintain their positive record in friendlies against fellow small nations.

“There is some pressure,” Cohen said. “After Pietro Ghedin became national coach, we won a series of friendlies and that helped us to improve.

“Ten years ago, we were beaten by Faroe Islands so this is our chance to make up for that at home. I hope that we rediscover the positive momentum we had before (the last two qualifiers).”

For his part, Valletta defender Jonathan Caruana dismissed suggestions that the players may regard tonight’s friendly as something of a distraction.

“This is the national team and there’s always great interest among the players,” Caruana said.

“We enjoy playing at this level and certainly no-one sees this match as a distraction.”

World Cup

30-04-97 Malta-F. Islands 1-2
08-06-97 F. Islands-Malta 2-1

Friendly

18-08-04 F. Islands-Malta 3-2

Malta (probable)

A. Hogg, A. Muscat, A. Agius, J. Caruana, C. Failla, R. Fenech, R. Briffa, A. Cohen, J. Min-toff/E. Herrera, M. Mifsud, A. Schembri.

Referee: Marcin Borski (Poland).
Kick-off: 7pm.