‘Keep believing’ De Angelis tells Birkirkara players ahead of Final Four title quest

Birkirkara coach Stefano De Angelis could not hide his pride at his team’s battling performance in a 1-1 draw against title favourites Floriana that propelled the Stripes into the Final Four.

In the build-up to the match, Floriana were seen as strong favourites to wrap up a record 27th league title with victory over Birkirkara at the National Stadium.

But Birkirkara put up a stirring fight, taking an early lead through Maxuell Maia.

Floriana did level matters just before half-time through Dunstan Vella and went in search of a winner, but found in front of them a resolute Birkirkara defence that held on to a point that moved them into a Top Four spot.

“It was a great team performance,” De Angelis told the Times of Malta.

“The players played their hearts out, showing great intensity, determination and hunger to attain the result we all chased.

“We may lack in terms of technical quality when compared to other strong sides like Floriana, Ħamrun Spartans and Birkirkara, but we compensate for that with our work rate and intensity throughout the 90 minutes.”

De Angelis said that Birkirkara’s qualification for the Final Four play-offs was the right response to those critics who, at the start of the season, had not included the Stripes among the top four sides in the championship.

Having arrived at the play-off semi-finals, De Angelis is urging his players to keep believing that they can achieve a ‘minor miracle’ by going on to win the Premier League title.

“Not many believed in us at the start of the season,” De Angelis said. “I still have articles where they said Birkirkara didn’t figure among the top four teams in the championship. This result surely is the right response to these critics, and we need to use such criticism as motivation to try and stay on course to attain what would be a minor miracle and win the Premier League title.

“I have great faith in this group of players that has shown great personality and quality this season, not just foreign players but also Maltese talent like Neil Micallef and Alex Satariano, who are enjoying a great season and who represent the future of our club.”

Turning his sights on the match against Sliema Wanderers, De Angelis has told his players to give everything they can against what he described as the most in-form team in the championship.

“Now that we are in the race, we need to compete to the maximum of our ability,” De Angelis said.

“We are facing the most in-form team in the championship so it’s important to continue to play with a lot of intensity and desire, as that is the only way for us to come out victorious.”