A trip to Malta has evoked happy memories for former Liverpool stalwart John Toshack as, in 1983, he scored the last goal of his playing career as Swansea City trounced Sliema Wanderers 5-0 to complete a massive 17-0 aggregate win in the first round of the Cup Winners’ Cup.
Thirty years on, Toshack, now coaching wealthy Azeri club Khazar Lankaran, has returned to Malta ahead of the first leg of the first qualifying round tie against Sliema.
But the Welshman yesterday dismissed suggestions that his team are surefire favourites to advance to a second-round meeting with Israel’s Maccabi Haifa.
“At this stage of the season, I don’t think that you can talk about favourites,” Toshack told a news conference yesterday.
“It’s only July and we’ve only been training for 10 days and I believe the Maltese team will be pretty much the same as us.
“These games come earlier than we would like and we don’t know what to expect.”
While admitting that he doesn’t know “a great deal” about Sliema, Toshack insisted that he has great respect for his opposition.
“I was here with Swansea City in 1983,” Toshack, who has had spells with Real Madrid and the Welsh national team during his nomadic coaching career, said.
“We played against Sliema and I remember that day well. I was player-coach of Swansea, we won 12-0 at home and 5-0 in Malta. I believe it was a record score in Europe at the time.
“I scored my last goal as a professional player in the away leg against Sliema. We were winning 15-0 on aggregate, so I could take a chance and go on the field.
“We’re expecting it to be a bit more difficult this time round. Sliema Wanderers are a respected side and they have many years of European football.
“Our club has only been going for 10 years while Sliema are an institution in European football. I have great respect for our opponents.”
Toshack lamented the decision to bring forward today’s match by two days as it disrupted the preparations of his team who were forced to end their training camp in Germany earlier than sche-duled.
Khazar Lankaran booked their place in the Europa League after reaching the final of the domestic cup where they lost to rivals Neftchi Baku.
Last season, Khazar were knocked out by Polish side Lech Poznan 2-1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.