Malta will kick off their Euro 2012 Group F qualification campaign with an away match against Israel on September 3.
The fixture schedule for Group F was determined by a draw, held yesterday in Tel Aviv, after the competing nations in this pool had been unable to reach agreement over the programme at a meeting in Greece earlier this month.
John Buttigieg's men continue their campaign with a home match against Latvia four days after their opener and then face their first and only away double-assignment with qualifiers against Georgia and Croatia in October.
After playing in Croatia on October 12, Malta will resume their commitments on March 26, 2011 when they entertain Greece at home followed by the away match against the Euro 2004 winners on June 4. In September 2011, Malta, who will be vying to improve on their dismal record of one point and no goals scored in the last World Cup qualifiers, will host Croatia (Sept.2) and Georgia (Sept. 6).
The last qualifiers are scheduled for October, 2011 with Malta travelling to Latvia on October 7 before wrapping up their campaign with a home game against Israel who earlier this week appointed former France midfielder Luis Fernandez as their new coach.
Buttigieg, the Malta coach, had no qualms about the outcome of yesterday's draw.
"I've said many times that I'd rather have the fixture schedule determined by a draw," Buttigieg said. "I've got no complaints about our schedule because the conditions are the same for all teams and the international dates are set beforehand."
There are two free dates (March 29 and June 7, 2011) in the fixture roster for Group F and Buttigieg is not ruling out switching one or two games to these dates if he feels that this would suit Malta and provided the opponents agree to the change.
On paper, the home encounters with Georgia and Latvia represent Malta's best hope of getting some points on board. These two matches will take place in September as Malta take on Latvia in their second qualifier on September 7 and host Georgia 12 months later.
Asked if he would have preferred to meet Latvia and Georgia, who suffered a 2-0 friendly defeat to Malta in Buttigieg's first match in charge last August, later in the season, Buttigieg replied: "On paper, Georgia and Latvia are the two teams that are regarded as being slightly better than Malta.
"But, all games are difficult for us. Latvia had a strong showing in the World Cup qualifiers as they finished third in their group with 17 points.
"Regarding the timing of our matches against Latvia and Georgia, I'd have preferred them to be in November because September is very early in the season but it's not a big issue. If it's early for us, it's probably early for them as well, so it's a level playing field."
Malta's build-up for the Euro 2012 trek started earlier this month with a home friendly against Finland who won 2-1. Buttigieg and his charges are now gearing up for the lucrative friendly against World Cup finalists Germany on May 13 in Aachen but the Malta coach lamented the disruptive effect the constant changes in the domestic fixtures is having on the team's preparations.
"I hope that the players have started to think seriously about the friendly against Germany but our preparations in the last few months have been undermined by the changes in the domestic fixtures," Buttigieg said. "It's not easy to work in these conditions, not only for me but also for the club coaches and the players.
"There has also been an increase in midweek matches and this complicates matters for the players because most of them are not full-time footballers."
Malta's qualifiers
Sep. 03, 2010 - Israel vs Malta
Sep. 07, 2010 - Malta vs Latvia
Oct. 08, 2010 - Georgia vs Malta
Oct. 12, 2010 - Croatia vs Malta
Mar. 26, 2011 - Malta vs Greece
Jun. 04, 2011 - Greece vs Malta
Sep. 02, 2011 - Malta vs Croatia
Sep. 06, 2011 - Malta vs Georgia
Oct. 07, 2011 - Latvia vs Malta
Oct. 11, 2011 - Malta vs Israel