Malta national teams head coach Michele Marcolini praised his team’s character after they revived their UEFA Nations League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Andorra in La Vella on Tuesday.
Ryan Camenzuli netted the all-important goal just before the half-time whistle to hand his team their first victory in League D Group 2.
However, it was far from a comfortable victory as in the second half the Andorrans failed to pounce on several defensive mistakes as the Maltese held on for the win.
“We deserve to win,” Malta coach Marcolini told the Times of Malta.
“The team was clearly on top for much of the match and created enough chances to add a second goal. Unfortunately, we failed to kill them off and ended up suffering a lot. But luckily the boys showed great team spirit, and we preserved our lead till the end.”
The Malta coach said that he was delighted with the approach of his players, particularly as the match came just a few days after their debacle in Moldova.
“I saw a completely different Malta national team to the one that played in Moldova,” Marcolini said.
“There was a great dose of determination from the players to bounce back from our performance in Moldova.
“They played with a very aggressive approach but what pleased me most is that every player worked for each other and that is crucial if you are going to win football matches.
“The players wanted to win this match at all costs, and they showed this attitude throughout the whole 90 minutes.”
Marcolini admitted that he was not fully pleased with the team’s performance on Tuesday.
The Italian said that for the second game in a row, the Maltese players committed a lot of mistakes in defence which could have been easily punished by the Andorrans had it not be for some top interventions by Malta goalkeeper Henry Bonello.
“Unfortunately, for the second successive match we again committed some silly mistakes as happened in Moldova,” Marcolini said.
“When you play international football, you cannot afford these kinds of situations and we certainly need to improve our defensive game.
“If we keep committing these mistakes against stronger teams, we risk of wasting all the good things that we do during a match.
“I’m happy for Henry Bonello, who again showed what a great goalkeeper he is for us. He effected two very important saves that virtually won us the match.”
Next up for Malta is arguably their most important match in the UEFA Nations League when they host Moldova at the National Stadium on October 13.
Following last weekend’s 2-0 defeat in Chisinau, Marcolini’s boys need to beat the Moldovans by at least a two-goal margin to take pole position for top spot in the group and promotion to League C.
“There is still one month to go before we face against Moldova,” Marcolini said.
“Moldova have already shown that they are a very good team who is used to playing with a high-level performance. We need to believe in ourselves and after the match, we will see who will have won the three points.
“Football is beautiful because every match is open, and anything could happen.
“At the start of the UEFA Nations League, Moldova were the favourites and after our defeat against them, they will be even more favourites to win promotion.
“But I believe Moldova cannot afford to take anything for granted because they will find a team that on the pitch will give his best following his dream. I’m sure of it.”
