With the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Sweden only six days away, the likelihood is that the Malta players are already devoting most of their attention to Wednesday's daunting test but John Buttigieg, the national coach, has called on his charges to concentrate on the now.
This evening, Malta take on Cape Verde in a friendly at the National Stadium and Buttigieg is adamant that his players are fully focused on the task at hand.
"This friendly is part of our preparations for the match against Sweden but it's important that our players concentrate on this game before they start to think about Wednesday's qualifier," Buttigieg told a news conference at the Grand Hotel Excelsior yesterday.
"As I said before the Georgia friendly, every international match is important for our team and this one is no different. I'm confident that the players will go into this friendly with the same attitude and commitment they showed against Georgia."
Two excellent goals from Michael Mifsud earned Malta a 2-0 win over Georgia last month, in the process ensuring a winning start to Buttigieg's tenure as national coach. Malta's tenacious performance and victory ought to have enhanced the morale of the players but Buttigieg was reluctant to dwell on the Georgia match.
"The positive result against Georgia raised the players' spirits but that match belongs to the past," Buttigieg remarked. "A month has almost passed since we beat Georgia and we must look ahead.
"Our next match is against Cape Verde. We don't know much about our opponents but they have a valid squad. Cape Verde are placed above Malta in the FIFA rankings and they have several players on the books of Portuguese clubs and one with an English Championship side. It is clear that Cape Verde should not be underestimated."
In the latest FIFA rankings, published in midweek, Cape Verde are 112th, 28 places above Malta (140).
Given the proximity between today's friendly and Wednesday's qualifier, Buttigieg must find the right balance between fielding a strong formation and keeping his key players fresh for the Sweden test.
Captain Gilbert Agius (quad) and Alex Muscat (hamstring) are out of the equation for today's warm-up due to minor injuries but Buttigieg is hopeful that the duo will recover in time to be in the squad for Wednesday's qualifier.
Veteran goalkeeper Mario Muscat's exclusion from the 18-man squad and the absence of Agius and Muscat mean that Buttigieg must make at least three changes from the team he fielded against Georgia.
Hibs defender-cum-midfielder Jonathan Caruana, who missed the Georgia friendly because of a slight injury, is in line for a starting berth along with Maltese-Australian flank defender Manny Muscat who has been recalled.
Buttigieg revealed that John Hutchinson was also in his plans for these two international matches but the Maltese-Australian midfielder could not travel to Malta for personal reasons. The Central Coast Mariners player left a good impression in his two appearances for Malta so far, a friendly against the Czech Republic (0-1) and the away qualifier against Sweden (0-4).
Dimech's omission
Malta's build-up to the Georgia friendly had been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Luke Dimech's omission from the squad after he reportedly failed to heed Buttigieg's request to change the colour of his hair. Judging by Dimech's absence from the latest Malta squad, it appears that the differences between the two have not been solved but Buttigieg refused to elaborate on the subject.
"Dimech is not in the squad but there are other players who have been left out," Buttigieg said.
Asked if disciplinary reasons were behind Dimech's continued absence from the national squad, Buttigieg replied: "It's a dressing-room matter."
Buttigieg has, in the main, kept faith in the bulk of the players who were in the Malta squad for the Georgia friendly. Etienne Barbara, scorer of a hat-trick on his Hibs debut, was in the provisional squad but failed to earn a berth in the 18-man party while Barnsley striker Daniel Bogdanovic and Terrence Scerri, who has already netted four goals in his first two matches for Valletta, have again been overlooked.
"We have some problems to follow the performances of some foreign-based players because their matches are not broadcast on TV but we've been in contact with them," Buttigieg said. "The door will always be open to all the players who are willing and committed to play for the national team."
Mifsud is the only player in Buttigieg's squad still without a club but the coach is not concerned about the striker's lack of match practice.
"Michael is still without a team but most of the other players in our squad have only had two competitive matches, so he's more or less on a par with his team-mates (in terms of match fitness)," Buttigieg claimed.
Having been left out of Malta's 18-man pool for the Georgia friendly, experienced goalkeeper Justin Haber has made the final cut this time round.
Haber last week agreed to join Hungarian top-division side Ferencvaros on loan from Sheffield United where he struggled to break into the first team.
"With two matches in six days, we decided to have three goalkeepers in our squad," Buttigieg replied when asked about Haber's recall.
Cape Verde Islands
The Cape Verde Islands may be among Africa's smallest countries but the former Portuguese colony is able to pick from players who turn out in leagues across Europe and in the USA. Striker Dady was a leading scorer with Lisbon club OS Belenenses before a move to Osasuna in Spain. Pedro Cardoso, aka Pele, plays for West Bromwich Albion, Rodi is on the books of Porto, and Nando is registered with Banik Ostrava of the Czech Republic.
Cape Verde failed to advance to round three of the African zone qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup. In round two, Cape Verde finished second with nine points in group one, seven behind winners Cameroon.
Malta's formation (probable): A. Hogg, I. Azzopardi, A. Agius, J. Caruana, S. Bajada/B. Said, J. Pace, R. Fenech, M. Mifsud, A. Cohen, A. Schembri, R. Briffa/K. Sammut.
Referee: Luca Banti (Italy).
Kick-off: 8.30 p.m.