Home start and finish for Malta

Maltese hopes of avoiding an away trip for their first World Cup 2006 Group Eight qualifier materialised yesterday but a very tough start still looms for the national team.

Top seeds Sweden are Malta's first opponents at Ta' Qali as the dates of the Group Eight qualifiers were announced at the end of a four-hour meeting, attended by national coaches and high-ranking officials, at the Corinthia Palace Hotel, Attard.

The negotiation skills of the Malta FA delegation, consisting of vice president John Farrugia, national teams' secretary Ivan Vella, national coach Horst Heese and his assistant Carmel Busuttil, were subjected to a stern test during the meeting.

Malta's opening two matches are home ties against Sweden (September 4) and Iceland (October 9). The home match against Iceland is the first of a double-fixture as four days later Malta have an away game against Bulgaria, drawn in the same group as Sweden in this summer's EURO 2004 finals.

"We would have preferred to take on Hungary at home for a start but that was not possible," Heese said.

"We have fond memories of our encounters with Hungary in the 80s and that's the reason we wanted to play them first," Heese added.

Hungary, now coached by former Germany captain Lothar Matthaeus, are Malta's last opponents for 2004. Heese's team resume their campaign on March 30, 2005 with a trip to Croatia.

June 2005 promises to be a very tough month. The national team must tackle an away double-header against Sweden (June 4) and Iceland (June 8), a trip that echoes that of three years ago when we had matches against Iceland and Denmark in the space of five days.

A journey to Hungary is next in line on September 3 followed four days later by a home match against Croatia. Malta wrap up their group commitments with a home tie against Bulgaria on October 12, 2005.

"Thanks to the co-operation of all involved in this meeting, we have finalised the schedule in just about four hours," Dr Joe Mifsud said.

Lars Lagerback, Sweden coach, said his team's performance in Portugal may affect their build-up to the World Cup qualifiers.

"It's a tough proposition. We start only a few months after the finals in Portugal," Lagerback said.

"We have to be extremely careful in our preparation as the players will have a shorter break than usual. Maybe the team will feel the effects of the extra summer exertions in our opening World Cup qualifiers."

Otto Baric, coach of Croatia, also EURO 2004 finalists, is under no illusion as to the threat posed by the teams in Group Eight.

"Three nations in this group have made it to EURO 2004 and this is likely to heighten expectations ahead of these qualifiers," Baric said. "People might think that we are favourites but that is not true. All teams have a good chance of going through."

Baric's view was echoed by Plamen Markov who said: "I regard all teams in our group as being equal."

Heese vows to get tough over 'irresponsible' players

Horst Heese has vowed to get tough with Maltese players who spend the week receiving treatment for injuries only to play for their clubs at the weekend.

"I'm very angry about this situation where national team players skip training to get treatment for injuries but then play for their clubs at the weekend," Heese said yesterday.

Heese refused to name the culprits, only saying that there are three to four "specialists".

"Carmel (Busuttil) and I share the same stance on this matter as we both know how a professional player should behave," Heese added. "We will discuss this problem with Dr Mifsud."

"The players have to realise that everyone is a loser when defying medical instructions," Busuttil said.

"The national team, clubs and players themselves all suffer if they continue to play with injuries."

Heese accused Maltese players of taking a wrong approach.

"Players must realise that they have certain responsibilities. Why have local fans turned their backs on Maltese football? The players have not been performing to the expected standards but if they do, maybe the crowds will return," Heese maintained.

Shifting his sights to Malta's preparations for the World Cup qualifiers, Heese sounded optimistic.

"If we make a good start, we can gather some points from this group," Heese said. "I cannot say we can take points off that team and not the other but if we can produce good team performances we can trouble any side in the group. We also need a large slice of luck but I'm confident we can gain some points," Heese said.

Unlike his predecessors, Heese's first months as national coach have been marked by constant changes.

Heese yesterday admitted he wants to introduce fresh blood into the national team.

"We have been watching all the matches from the Premier League because we want fresh blood. I'm not too concerned that we are playing Sweden first but I believe that we need to have taller players in our team to compete against them.

"The upcoming International Tournament in Malta is a fine opportunity to gauge the progress of the team and to find the best formation and tactics," Heese said.

Heese also confirmed his earlier statement that the old-fashioned libero will be eradicated from Malta's tactics as he favours a four-in-line defence.