Team spirit lifts Heese's hopes of a 'miracle' in Zagreb

Horst Heese has been bestriding the line between reality and fantasy as he supervised the final preparations for Malta's Group Eight qualifying match against Croatia in Zagreb.

One minute he sighs that Malta needs nothing short of a miracle to upset a team like Croatia but almost in the same breath he declares himself confident that his players can spring a surprise this evening at Dinamo Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium.

"I can now say that I feared more the away match to Bulgaria in October than this one," Heese said.

"But we saw in Bulgaria that with more self-confidence, this Malta team can give opponents a stiff challenge. In the first half in Sofia, we had a very good performance but then we conceded a goal just before half-time which made things more difficult for us.

"Perhaps, we also made a mistake by introducing an attacking-minded player in Antoine Zahra in the second half but at the time, we thought the substitution could make a difference. Nonetheless, the performance was satisfactory... we certainly did not deserve to lose 4-1.

"Croatia is a different game. They boast a strong squad with five of their players turning out for Bundesliga sides whereas most of our players are facing weak teams in the domestic competition. When you consider the disparity between the two teams, you cannot expect miracles but at the same time the harmony in the squad tells me that I should believe more in my players," Heese added.

"Together, they are stronger and with a strong team spirit, you can aspire to pull off a surprise."

A slight shock has already been delivered by Heese and assistant Carmel Busuttil when they confirmed that three players with limited experience, namely Valletta's Massimo Grima, Kevin Sammut, of Msida St Joseph, and Peter Pullicino, the Hibernians midfielder, will be in Malta's starting formation.

Pullicino and Sammut will be given the onus of guarding the right flank while Grima will take up a deep midfield role in front of the back four.

His promotion to the starting grid represents an astonishing turnaround in Grima's career as not so long ago, his football style and attitude were deemed too liberal for the national coach's liking, never mind the criticism about him being overweight.

Grima's positive displays for Valletta this season, coupled with the commitment and flair he has shown since securing an invitation to return to the national squad, have shot him up the pecking order.

"I intend to play Grima from the start," Heese said.

"He is a player for the future, in the sense that with the talent he's got, he can become the leader of this team. If Grima continues to work hard and delivers on his immense potential, he can add a new dimension to our play. He's comfortable with the ball, the kind of player who can be a reference point for his team-mates when they are in a difficult situation."

Heese admitted that he had scant faith in Grima before deciding to give him a try in a friendly in Andalusia last December.

"In the eight or nine weeks Grima has been with us, he has shed six kilos and showed himself willing to improve," the Malta coach said.

"Before, I didn't believe in him because he wasn't doing the right things during games but he seems to have matured."

A former Malta U-21 skipper, Sammut has earned his chance to start his first game at senior level after his lively second-half appearance in the 3-0 defeat to Norway in a friendly last month.

"In that home match against Norway, Sammut showed that, in the absence of Roderick Briffa who's injured, he's the right person for the right-midfield position," Heese said.

"Briffa was doing well for us but I'm heartened by Sammut's encouraging display against Norway because he defended well and also ventured forward when he sensed a chance to attack."

Mifsud support

Sammut and Claude Mattocks (the only left-footed player in the current Maltese squad according to Heese) will be Malta's wide midfielders in a 4-5-1 tactical set-up.

"The two outside midfielders have the responsibility of protecting the flank defenders but I also expect them to get more involved in our attacking build-up," Heese said.

"They have to offer support to Michael Mifsud."

Mifsud will again play as a lone striker as Heese will have five men in midfield. Sharing duties with Mattocks, Sammut and Grima will be Stefan Giglio and either Ivan Woods, Gilbert Agius or George Mallia.

If Malta's training sessions in the last few days are anything to go by, then Agius could find himself excluded from the initial line-up.

The 31-year-old Valletta skipper has been one of the best players in Premier League this season and with 83 appearances for Malta, he has more caps than the other four midfield players added together. But Heese could opt for a different combination in central midfield.

On Monday, the national coach tried all his midfield players in different positions and until last night he had not made up his mind about who to play as the two advanced midfielders in the team.

Heese had a clearer picture in his mind about his four-man defence which will be composed of Ian Azzopardi on the left, Luke Dimech and Brian Said at centre-half and Pullicino as right-back.

Justin Haber has retained his place in Malta's goal ahead of Birkirkara club-mate Saviour Darmanin. "We consider Haber as our first-choice goalkeeper," Heese said.

Diverting his attention to the strengths of Malta's opponents in their fifth match from this World Cup qualifying series, Heese said: "Croatia are physically better and they will surely look to make a strong start to the game. We have to be careful in the first 20 minutes to prevent them opening the score and to keep the game still alive as a contest.

"In every game we played in this group, we have had one or two chances to score but the most important thing is to convert these opportunities into goals."

Malta's Line-Up (Probable): Justin Haber, Peter Pullicino, Ian Azzopardi, Brian Said, Luke Dimech, Massimo Grima, Kevin Sammut, Stefan Giglio, Michael Mifsud, Ivan Woods/Gilbert Agius, Claude Mattocks.

Referee: Costas Kapitanis (Cyprus).

Kick-off: 6 p.m. (Maksimir Stadium).

Previous Encounters

Euro Championship
10-10-98 Malta vs Croatia 1-4
21-08-99 Croatia vs Malta 2-1