Malta’s historic League B debut in the European Championship qualifications will come to an end in the coming days when Manuela Tesse’s side will face Northern Ireland and Portugal in a double-header finale.
The Maltese selection launches this month’s international window with a home game against the Northern Ireland side, against whom they snatched a point in the first round, before facing giants Portugal in Leira.
As expected, the Maltese women found the going tough in Europe’s second tier as they sit bottom in the four-team group with just one point to show for their efforts.
They are at the back of two last-gasp defeats against Bosnia-Herzegovina which dented Malta’s chances of finishing at least in third place in the group.
The top three teams in every League B group advance to the Euro 2025 play-offs whereas the bottom side drops into League C, with Malta on the brink of returning to the third-tier.
Nonetheless, Italian coach Tesse is upbeat about Malta’s chances of showing good performances in the upcoming two tests.
“We will try to put up a good performance against Northern Ireland,” Tesse told the Times of Malta.
Asked about Malta’s showings in League B, Tesse believes that her side did well and was close to reach its objectives, including garnering points against Bosnia-Herzegovina whose two wins over the Maltese selection propelled them into second place in the group with six points.
Northern Ireland, on their part, sit third with four points as favourites Portugal have lived up to the expectations, leading with a perfect record – four wins from as many matches played.
For these two matches, Tesse kept faith with the players selected in the previous windows but is yet to decide whether to change the tactical system.
“We have tried some new things, but we are not sure about implementing the changes or not for these matches,” the former Italy player said.
Meanwhile, one worry for Tesse could be the mental strength of her players at this point in time of the pre-season.
“We have tested the players before the Bosnia-Herzegovina double-headers, with the team showing significant improvement,” the former Serie A Femminile coach said.
“In the women’s game, a lot of energy is lost due to the mental aspect and this can affect our matches, even if the players improve from a physical point of view.
“We have to admit that the other national teams in this group are stronger than us in this aspect.”
As expected, both Northern Ireland and Portugal have selected their best players for these matches.
Tanya Oxtoby, the Northern Ireland coach, selected former Everton and Aston Villa player Simone Magill who had a controversial goal disallowed in the first round game in Belfast.
On the other hand, Portugal’s coach Francisco Neto continues to bank on a talented group of players including Carole Costa and Ana Capeta, scorers in their nation’s 2-0 win over Malta in the first-round tie.
