The prevalent feeling in the build-up to this evening's showdown with Albania is that this qualifier represents Malta's best chance to open their account in Group One of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Hope springs eternal, the old saying goes, and local fans and critics are indeed hopeful that our national team can come of age against Albania and lift the gloom engendered by Malta losing its opening qualifiers in the September-October period last year.
Dusan Fitzel, the chief in command of our elite selection, shares the hopes of the entire nation but struck a cautious note yesterday.
"I'm always confident but I think that question should be addressed to the players," he told reporters at the Grand Hotel Excelsior.
"I always try to transfer my confidence to the players and my belief is that if we play well, we can get a result against other teams, not just Albania. But, we also have to accept that Albania are strong. They have several players with overseas clubs but, perhaps, at this moment in time, they have some difficulties because some of them, especially those who play in Ukraine, haven't had any compet-ition in the last few months.
"That said, I'm sure that these factors will encourage Albania to focus more on this game. They will surely give their 100 per cent to win.
"It's going to be a very tough game but I feel this match has come at the right time for us.
"The domestic campaign is at its peak and the Valletta-Floriana match on Saturday (FA Trophy) was one of the best I've witnessed in the three years I've been here."
As is his custom, Fitzel gave little away about his selection but hinted at minimal changes from the line-up that started in the 3-1 win over Ferencvaros last week.
"Our first half against Ferencvaros was good and the second half was also positive," Fitzel said.
"I've analysed the match and will go through it with the players. I'm happy with the squad I have but choosing the starting 11 is always a headache.
"Andrè Schembri is available but he's only had two training sessions and sometimes it's difficult for him to assimilate things that we had been working on for a month.
"However, I'd say that (from the Ferencvaros game) we have to accommodate Schembri in the line-up."
Fitzel's decision to leave out experienced players like Jamie Pace, Ivan Woods and George Mallia suggests that Schembri will be assigned an advanced midfield role. Skipper Gilbert Agius is a certainty to take up the holding midfield position as Fitzel has his mind set on a 4-1-4-1 module.
Asked to elaborate on his decision to switch from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1, Fitzel replied: "In the last few years, I've been encouraging the players to keep possession and try to open up space on the pitch. One of our main weaknesses is that when we defend and win possession, we lose it again with a poor clearance and that immediately puts the pressure back on us.
"With regards to our tactical approach, when we played 4-2-3-1 we often won the ball back some 10 metres away from our box or inside it. By switching to 4-1-4-1, I hope to push the team forward. With four midfielders we have a better chance of winning the ball closer to the halfway line and that should boost our attack."
Andrew Hogg and Justin Haber played a half each in the Ferencvaros warm-up and predicting who will start today is a hard call, although Fitzel's lamentations about Haber's dearth of first-team football for Sheffield United are likely to be interpreted as an indication that the Valletta goalkeeper is in line to take the no.1 jersey.
In the heart of defence, Fitzel will deploy two players with contrasting styles as the experienced Luke Dimech, strong and robust, will be partnered by Andrei Agius whose tactical astuteness and composure on the ball again caught the eye against Ferencvaros.
Fitzel clearly rates Agius highly and expects him to become better with experience.
"Andrei has proved himself but let us not forget that he's a young player," Fitzel said.
"In the friendly against Iceland (Malta lost 1-0), he was having a great game but after committing the mistake that led to their goal, his performance went down. He has huge potential and I think his confidence will grow with more games."
Alex Muscat and Ian Azzopardi are expected to man Malta's flanks tonight. In midfield, Agius and Schembri will be joined by Roderick Briffa and Clayton Failla with Michael Mifsud playing off the shoulder of Terrence Scerri.
The lanky Hibs striker, currently the Premier League top scorer, enhanced his chances of being on the starting grid but Fitzel was restrained in his praise for Scerri.
"Scerri did well against Ferencvaros but he then had a very quiet game when Hibs played Sliema in the FA Trophy," Fitzel remarked.
"Consistency in performances is a problem for all the Maltese players, not just Scerri. Top players usually sustain their good form over a long period of time but here, that's more difficult to achieve because the set-up is not professional."
Clubs' set-up
Fitzel took the opportunity to call on local clubs to raise the standards of their set-ups.
He pointed out that the current state of things means that the training players receive with their clubs not always compliments the work they do with the national team.
"Whenever we give the players a month's break from the national team, we have to start from zero when we get back," Fitzel said.
"Club coaches adopt a different approach because they have games every weekend, so they often focus on tactics but that not always helps to maintain the players' physical fitness."
Questioned about the omission of Pace, a fixture in Fitzel's team for much of the past three years, the Czech said:
"When I first came here, everyone was telling me that Jamie was not good enough to play for Malta but he was our best player in the last qualification campaign. When I called him, he was 29 years old but now he's 32.
"His move to Valletta hasn't helped him because the level of his performances has gone down. The same goes for his physical condition. I believe that a player of his age should concentrate more on his game. Pace hasn't played one good match for Valletta in the past month but I hope he comes back."
Having watched Albania's last five matches on DVD, Fitzel is pretty convinced that they will also play 4-1-4-1.
The Czech mentor has tipped Besart Berisha, currently on loan with Burnley, to get Arie Haan's nod to lead Albania's attack.
Haan's options are restricted by injuries to Lorik Cana (Marseille) and Altin Lala (Hanover) while Chievo striker Erjon Bogdani and goalkeeper Arjan Beqaj, who plays for Anorthosis Famagusta, have not been playing regularly.
Albania beat Malta 3-0 in Tirana last September with goals from Bogdani, Duro and Dallku.
Previous matches
Friendlies
16.08.1995 Malta vs Albania 2-1
15.11.2000 Albania vs Malta 3-0
22.08.2007 Albania vs Malta 3-0
Int. Tournament
06.02.1998 Malta vs Albania 1-1
10.02.2000 Malta vs Albania 0-1
World Cup
10.09.2008 Albania vs Malta 3-0
Line-ups (probable)
Malta: A. Hogg, A. Muscat, I. Azzopardi, A. Agius, L. Dimech, G. Agius, A. Schembri, A. Cohen/R. Briffa, T. Scerri, C. Failla, M. Mifsud.
Albania: A. Beqaj, A. Dallku, E. Beqiri, D. Curri, K. Vangjeli, E. Bulku, K. Duro, E. Vrapi, E. Skela, B. Berisha, E. Bogdani.
Referee: A. Deaconu (Romania FA).
Kick-off: 19.30, National Stadium.