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“Malta’s heavy defeat against Sweden though somewhat unexpected was not totally surprising. With our limitations in numbers and present dearth of good players only fools and possibly a few members of the technical board believed otherwise. Miracles in football are not so fashionable these days.
To say that the Malta team played badly is the understatement of the year. The performance of most of our lot was simply diabolical. The players were slow, they obviously lacked match-practice. They committed far too many silly mistakes. Team-play was non existent. Tactics? What tactics? As the far superior opponents were given so much time and space we were eventually lucky not to emerge with a double-figure defeat. This is a sad indictment. We had no answer to the Swedes’ physical, technical and tactical superiority. The match was as good as over after eleven minutes when Zlatan Ibrahimovic had already netted twice. The side was shocked, rattled and well beaten. Shorn of fighting spirit, and without a leader in sight the onslaught could not have been avoided. Theirs was an impossible task. This was one of the worst performances of our national team. Definitely not the worst because we have had a number of similar results and we will still continue to have them. Our lot are very limited, big-headed, weak and uncommitted. There are many other justified reasons
and difficulties for this state of affairs. It is complex problem.
Away defeats
Our adventure in the World Cup series started thirty-three years ago so far we played sixty-three matches but only won once!
Ironically our single win was registered in Tallin, eleven years ago, when we defeated Estonia thanks to an only goal netted by Chris Laferla. Disasters when playing away have been common and somewhat regular. We were beaten by Sweden (0-7), Austria (0-9), East Germany(0-9), West Germany (0-6), Italy(1-6),Yugoslavia (0-9), Czech Republic(0-6) and Slovenia(0-6). Glancing at the results obtained in UEFA Championship matches one finds 1-6 defeats against Norway and Italy, four 0-8 beatings, against West Germany (twice), Eire and Holland (at home!) and the infamous 1-12 against Spain in Seville.
Such details hardly encourage anyone.
The sad setback at Ullavi Stadium in Goteburg 32 years ago, still haunts me. The situation then was totally different. We had only started our World Cup qualifiers adventure eleven months earlier.
The difficulties were enormous. The selected players were not released from their place of work and training sessions were held in the evenings at the Marsa grounds where there were no lights, little grass and lots of potholes. On many occasions the caretaker would only open the gates after getting a good tip! A very limited number of cheap balls were available.
The selected players played for the glory of sport and a few pennies. The government of the day did not help much, either! As national coach I was given leave without pay and was only informed a few hours before departure that the minister had given her approval!
Proffesional scheme
A professional scheme has now been in operation for more than twenty years, foreign coaches on full-time basis are employed, training camps are held away from home and a good number of friendly matches are regularly organised. And still we get beaten three times in three matches by the likes of the Faroe Islands!
Players are groomed in U/16, U/18 and U/21 groups, and training programmes run by a number of staff coaches are also held abroad. The selections participate in a number of tournaments to get the needed experience.
But then we have a Premier League with ten clubs and a strange format. One which shows very clearly that our players lack pace, stamina, skill and the general requirements of the modern game. Those who were clever enough to sign impressive contracts should also know the real meaning of the word commitment. Dedication and sheer hard work help. Serious tactical discipline is only one of the many commandments at this level. There are so many weaknesses in the Malta side that the mentors need cooperation and lots of courage.
Maybe it is a negative picture; however it is the sad truth.
The match against Iceland is just four weeks away.
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