[attach id=243359 size="medium"]Malta’s Ryan Fenech tackles Georgi Milanov during Friday’s qualifier. Photo: Paul Zammit Cutajar[/attach]

A dejected Pietro Ghedin was at a loss to explain the reasons behind Malta’s wretched performance in Friday’s 6-0 hiding to Bulgaria at the Vasil Levski Stadium but he was in no doubt that the freezing conditions and individual mistakes contributed to this humiliating defeat.

“The weather and pitch conditions certainly didn’t help us,” Ghedin said.

“I didn’t expect such a heavy defeat. We thought we could do well and leave the pitch with our heads held high but this was not the case.

“We paid dearly for individual mistakes and the strength of our opponents was also a big factor.”

An early goal, scored inside the opening six minutes by Alexandar Tonev who went on to notch a hat-trick, set the tone for a one-sided match dominated by Bulgaria who consolidated second spot in Group B with nine points from five matches, one behind Italy who have a game in hand. The Azzurri meet Malta on Tuesday.

Although Bulgaria had been widely expected to take maximum points from their home clash with Malta, few anticipated such a high-scoring win as Ghedin’s men were coming from a string of encouraging performances, including in the away defeats to Italy and the Czech Republic.

Last month, Malta gave a very good account of themselves in a 0-0 friendly draw with Northern Ireland but the composure, determination and tactical discipline that underpinned that showing at the National Stadium were only conspicuous by their absence on Friday evening.

The arctic weather made Malta’s task harder as Ghedin’s men struggled to find any sort of rhythm on a frozen pitch but it was the stuttering form and technical limitations shown by most of his players that will have tormented the national coach most, moreso with the much-awaited meeting with Italy looming on Tuesday.

Despite his disappointment at Malta’s inept showing, Ghedin was reluctant to come down heavily on his players but he admitted that individual mistakes, especially that committed by goalkeeper Andrew Hogg in Bulgaria’s second goal late in the first half, shattered the team’s morale.

Malta looked as if they were containing Bulgaria’s pressure when, seven minutes from half-time, a seemingly innocuous drive by Tonev spun off Hogg’s gloves and dropped into the net.

“Almost every shot by Bulgaria went in and that was quite incredible,” Ghedin said. “We could have done more but the individual errors really killed us.

“When that happens to a very important player in the team (for Bulgaria’s second goal), it affects everyone. A striker missing an open scoring chance is a setback but as a team, you absorb that but when it’s the goalkeeper, it’s more difficult.

“I don’t want to sound as if I’m blaming the goalkeeper because Hogg did his best out there but this is the rule of football.”

Malta also seemed to miss Gareth Sciberras’s industry in midfield while Daniel Bogdanovic, who was also in Ghedin’s first-team plans, was also absent.

While Bogdanovic’s absence had been expected after the Valletta winger suffered an abdominal strain in training, Sciberras had a good chance of recovering from a slight groin problem.

Ghedin said he decided not to risk Sciberras after taking into consideration the conditions of the pitch.

“Sciberras had a scan on his injury,” Ghedin said.

“He could have played but on such a terrible pitch, it was not possible for him to play as there was a risk that he would aggravate the injury.

“I didn’t want to take that risk and the player was also uncertain whether he could play or not.”

New additions

After flying back from Bulgaria early yesterday afternoon, Malta headed straight to the Ta’ Qali training grounds for a recovery session.

With Bogdanovic ruled out of the Italy qualifier, Ghedin has added two players to his squad, Ħamrun Spartans striker Terrence Vella and Balzan left back Jacob Borg.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria were understandably delighted with their comprehensive win over Malta but coach Lyuboslav Penev was at pains to brush of suggestions that his team had an easy run-out.

“The win didn’t come as easily as the result might suggest,” Penev said. “This Maltese team is not weak at all but my players have done a good job and achieved a great result in difficult conditions.

“I’m delighted about the team’s performance. We cannot be too proud though.

“We have to refocus for Tuesday but the mood in our squad is positive ahead of the visit to Denmark.

“We can’t win every game as there will be draws and defeats. The most important thing is that we approach our game with the right attitude.”

Borislav Mihaylov, the president of the Bulgarian football federation, was a happy man after Friday’s win.

“I have played 102 games for the national team but in my time, we never achieved such a convincing win,” Mihaylov said of Bulgaria’s biggest win since their 7-1 success over Malta in a friendly match back in 1982.

“In Denmark it will be more difficult for us and maybe the weather will be as cold as here. The most important thing is that there has been a significant improvement in our game.”

Bulgaria goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov, the son of the Bulgaria FA president, said: “It was really cold on the pitch but the goals we scored made me feel very warm.

“I prefer to feel cold in every game but our team wins. Now our aim is to beat Denmark (on Tuesday).”