Malta 1
Mifsud 17
Finland 2
Eremenko 66 pen.; Vayrynen 69
A chilly evening at the National Stadium as Malta kicked off their 2010 commitments with a friendly against Finland.
The wintry conditions ought to have brought the best out of the visitors but for the best part of the first half the opposite seemed very much true as it was Malta who forced the pace against their Nordic opponents who had been urged by their Scottish coach Stuart Baxter to impose themselves on this friendly against one of the minnows of European football.
With Michael Mifsud and Daniel Bogdanovic roving with purpose up front, Malta gained a foothold as hopes of an uplifting result in the national team's first outing of the year rose after Mifsud, who had just missed a penalty, gave the hosts a deserved lead.
Commitment, tactical cohesion and quick forward thrusts were the hallmarks of Malta's vibrant display in the opening half-hour but three substitutions by Baxter at the start of the second half and the gradual mental and physical decline of our players undid their good work as Finland struck twice in the space of three second-half minutes.
John Buttigieg's selection featured some players widely tipped to form the backbone of the squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Most of them acquitted themselves well, especially Andrei Agius and Ryan Fenech, but it was clear that the team lacked a leader on the pitch, especially when the going got tough.
Contrary to Finland, who stepped up their game after Baxter revamped the team at half-time, Buttigieg's substitutions didn't reap the desired dividends but this being a friendly, the coach's stated objective was to give the younger elements in his squad more experience at this level.
Malta's second-half difficulties generally stemmed from midfield where the likes of Fenech, Jamie Pace and Roderick Briffa found it hard to cope with the varied movement of their opponents, particularly in wide positions.
Also, the understanding between Mifsud and Bogdanovic at times left much to be desired and potentially inviting openings were spurned as a result.
Justin Haber, who had not figured for the national team since the 2-0 friendly upset to Cape Verde last September, received Buttigieg's nod to guard goal.
Malta's four-man defence featured Kenneth Scicluna and Agius at centre-half and Alex Muscat (right) and Clayton Failla on the flanks.
Buttigieg put his faith in Fenech to run Malta's engine room alongside the more experienced Pace. Andrew Cohen recovered from a slight calf knock to take up a wide position on the left of midfield with Briffa deployed on the right.
Up front, Mifsud, Malta's captain in the absence of the dropped Gilbert Agius, was flanked by Bogdanovic who has been at his deadly best for Barnsley in the past few weeks.
Baxter favoured a 4-3-3 approach in which veteran Jari Litmanen had the liberty to roam and create openings for his fellow forwards.
Hardly two minutes had elapsed when Fenech curled a free-kick towards the far post and Agius just failed to make contact with the ball.
Malta started the game in confident mood. On 10 minutes, Briffa sent in an inviting cross and Bogdanovic drifted behind the back-tracking defenders but his header was too central to trouble Peter Enckelman, the Finland keeper.
Finland threatened to seize the lead when, on 12 minutes, Litmanen's cross from a corner was met with a firm header by the towering Tim Sparv but much to Malta's relief, the ball bounced off the bar.
The red-shirted players were quick to switch from defence to attack as they lofted the ball upfield and towards Mifsud who sped forward but Veli Lampi's illegitimate charge halted the nippy striker's run.
Referee Mauro Bergonzi pointed to the spot but Mifsud's penalty was pushed away by Enckelman.
Mifsud was gutted but within four minutes, he had made amends.
Cohen's cross from the left ricocheted off Toni Kallio and the ball dropped to the unmarked Mifsud who stroked it past Enckelman and send the vocal members of the South End Core into raptures.
It was a timely boost for Mifsud who showed that his long hiatus from club football has not diminished his predatory instincts.
His opener yesterday also made him Malta's all-time leading scorer with 24 goals, one more than Carmel Busuttil.
Finland's reaction was sterile as it didn't go beyond a couple of speculative crosses that failed to unnerve Haber.
Finland came close to an equaliser when Roni Pokorara cut in from the left and swept past Muscat before setting up Johansson whose flick from close-in drew an excellent reflex save from the Malta keeper.
At the other end, Briffa supplied a throughball to Mifsud who ran past Niklas Moisander but elected to shoot instead of passing to the advancing Bogdanovic. Mifsud's miscued effort rolled wide of the far post.
Baxter made three substitutions at half-time but Buttigieg retained the 11 players who started the game.
Teemu Tainio, who had just replaced Sparv, almost left an instant imprint on the game as he let fly a magnificent shot that rattled the crossbar. Indeed, Baxter's half-time talk appeared to have the desired effect as Finland pressed forward with renewed intent.
However, it was Malta who missed a gilt-edged opportunity to double their lead when, 10 minutes into the second half, Briffa sent Bogdanovic clear. The Barnsley forward raced into the box and looked up to see if any of his team-mates were in a better position to score but as he did so, Mifsud slipped.
Bogdanovic decided to go it alone but his effort from a somewhat acute angle was repelled by Otto Fredrikson, who came in for Enckelman at the start of the second period.
Finland drew level on 66 minutes from a penalty. Steve Bezzina and Jonathan Caruana, two second-half substitutes, were adjudged to have tripped the goalbound Hamalainen in the box. Roman Eremenko drilled his shot past the diving Haber to make it 1-1.
Malta were still coming to terms with Finland's equaliser when the visitors moved ahead. Barely three minutes from Eremenko's penalty had passed when Eremenko's measured cross from the left found the Malta defence at sixes and sevens and substitute Mika Vayrynen headed past Haber.
Having been in the driving seat for much of the first half, the home team now found themselves a goal down and needing to make an immediate reaction to stem the tide.
Bogdanovic set off on a run but his long-range strike was deflected for a corner. That was the closest Malta came to an equaliser as Finland coasted through the remaining minutes.
Aftermatch comments
John Buttigieg: "It was a tough match. Finland have improved a lot in the last few years. We played well in the opening 20 minutes and also managed to create some scoring chances but had problems coping with Jari Litmanen who played between our two lines (defence and midfield).
"Finland improved in the latter stages of the first half and we struggled a lot in the second period, especially in the first 15 to 20 minutes. Then, we conceded two goals in four minutes and as so often happens with our team, heads went down after we suffered the first goal."
Stuart Baxter: "We knew that to come here and play well without a full team would be difficult. Malta made it hard for us but we expected this because even Sweden had problems when they played here.
"The first 20 minutes were hectic for us because we didn't do well in opening up play and Malta were very lively. Gradually, we gained control and we continued like that in the second half. I'm satisfied that we scored two goals and won the game.
"Overall, it was a very good exercise for my team."
Malta: J. Haber, A. Muscat, A. Agius, R. Fenech, D. Bogdanovic, R. Briffa ('77 T. Cilia), M. Mifsud ('85 S. Bajada), A. Cohen ('65 I. Woods), C. Failla ('52 S. Bezzina), K. Scicluna ('59 J. Caruana), J. Pace ('82 P. Fenech).
Finland: P. Enckelman ('46 O. Fredrikson), V. Lampi, N. Moisander, J. Raitala, R. Eremenko, K. Hamalainen (77 J. Kolkka), J. Litmanen ('46 M. Varyrynen), T. Sparv ('46 T. Tainio), J. Johansson ('83 T. Pukki), R. Porokara, T. Kallio ('57 J. Lyyski).
Referee: M. Bergonzi (Italy).
Missed penalty: Mifsud (M) 13.
Yellow card: Fenech.
Malta Players' Ratings: Haber-6.5, Muscat-5.5, A. Agius-6.5, R. Fenech-6, Bogdanovic-6, Briffa-6, Mifsud-6.5, Cohen-6, Failla-5.5, Scicluna-6, Pace-6.
Subs: Bezzina-5, Caruana-5, Woods-5.