Buoyant Malta seek to justify growing optimism

It is not commonplace that a Maltese team prepares to take on a foreign side with high optimism. But that looks to be the case going by the positive vibes emanating from Ta' Qali ahead of Malta's final World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria today.

Tracing the reasons for this unusually confident mood among the Maltese is not difficult.

A 1-1 home draw against Croatia, the Group Eight leaders who last Saturday sealed their passage to the World Cup finals in Germany with a 1-0 victory in Sweden, provided a welcome respite from the disappointing results Malta had recorded against the big guns in this qualifying campaign.

Malta's brave performance on the day also raised hopes that the revamp undertaken by coach Horst Heese over the past two years may lead to a better future for the national team.

Perhaps, that heartening result of September 7 came a little bit late for the German coach who had already announced that Malta's final qualifying match against Bulgaria would be his last.

This evening's match will therefore double up as Heese's swansong and the players will surely be extra-motivated to give their master a positive farewell.

Although it's encouraging to know that the Maltese players are looking forward to their last qualifier with renewed optimism, it's equally necessary that they don't lose sight of the fact that Bulgaria are a stronger football nation.

Qualification to World Cup finals may have eluded the eastern Europeans but they are still one of the better teams in the continent as they showed in beating Hungary 2-0 last weekend.

Almost a year ago to date, Bulgaria inflicted a 4-1 defeat over Malta at the Vassil Levski Stadium despite having fallen behind to a Michael Mifsud goal after 13 minutes.

The Lillestrom striker is one of several Maltese players unable to play today because of injury.

Mifsud had also missed the 1-1 draw with Croatia after incurring a shoulder injury during training with his club but Sliema Wanderers' duo Claude Mattocks and Orosco Anonam were in Malta's line-up for that qualifier and both have been declared unfit to play today.

Their absence means that Heese must change his starting formation.

On the positive side, skipper Gilbert Agius has been included in the final 18-man squad after being initially ruled out with a knee problem.

Massimo Grima, Agius's Valletta team-mate and his replacement in the 4-0 defeat away to Hungary early last month, has also earned a berth in the squad after recovering from a foot injury.

Their availability is a boost for Heese who has preferred to keep his formation for this game secret.

The indications from training drills are that Chester defender Luke Dimech will replace Kenneth Scicluna at centre-half and Antoine Zahra looks favourite to take Mattocks's role on the left.

Although Malta will be gunning to gain a draw or even a victory which could propel them above Iceland in the standings if the latter lose away to Sweden today, Heese identified defensive stability as his top priority.

"First, we have to make sure that we keep composure, especially when the team is defending," Heese said.

"The first 25 to 30 minutes are normally crucial to our hopes of obtaining a decent result. If we don't concede an early goal, our chances are better although I have to say that in the games against Northern Ireland (1-1) and Croatia (1-1), we came back strongly after falling behind.

"I interpret that as a sign that the players' self-belief is growing."

Although Heese was reluctant to divulge the names of the players on the starting grid, he did confirm that Birkirkara's George Mallia is in line for a return to the first team.

"George is one of the best players in the Premier League but he failed to convince me of his desire to gain a regular place in the national team," Heese said.

"I spoke to George as he was understandably unhappy about his position.

"I made it clear to him that if his attitude in training is not 100 per cent, I will not select him for the first team. Inversely, if a player makes a real effort and shows that he is willing to play, he will get his chance.

"George has done exactly that over the last two weeks. I think he deserves his chance to play but we will see."

Bulgaria may have nothing left to play for after missing out on qualification to the World Cup finals but Heese warned that they remain one of the strongest teams in the group.

"Bulgaria don't seem to have high expectations for this match but make no mistake, they will do everything to win here," Heese said.

"I watched their 2-0 victory over Hungary and I was very impressed.

"Hungary have a valid team but they were second best to Bulgaria on Saturday."

Probable Formations

Malta: J. Haber, P. Pullicino, I. Ciantar (I. Azzopardi), B. Said, L. Dimech, R. Briffa, S. Wellman, G. Mallia (M. Grima), A. Zahra, I. Woods, A. Cohen.

Bulgaria: Kolev, Venkov, Iliev, Topuzakov, Kishishev, M. Petrov, Iankov, Dimitrov, Lazarov, Berbatov, Bojinov.

Referee: Vitaliy Godulyan (Ukraine FA).

Kick-off: 7 p.m.

Previous Encounters

11-06-1975 EC Bulgaria vs Malta 5-0

21-12-1975 EC Malta vs Bulgaria 0-2

14-10-1982 F Bulgaria vs Malta 7-0

26-12-1982 F Malta vs Bulgaria 0-0

07-10-2000 WC Bulgaria vs Malta 3-0

01-09-2001 WC Malta vs Bulgaria 0-2

13-10-2004 WC Bulgaria vs Malta 4-1