Watch: Ħamrun Spartans must show heart and belief against Maccabi Tel Aviv, says coach Modica

Ħamrun Spartans coach Giacomo Modica has told his players to convert all the anger from last week’s heartbreaking defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv into grit and determination as the Malta champions look to secure a historic feat at the Topola Stadium in Serbia on Thursday night (kick-off: 8pm).

Last week, the Spartans looked on their way to a famous win in their Europa League third qualifying clash against Maccabi at the Tony Bezzina Stadium, when N’Dri Koffi fired them ahead from the penalty spot with less than 20 minutes to go.

But the Malta champions suffered a late collapse as goals from Roy Revivo and Elad Madmon handed the Israeli side a crucial 2-1 victory.

That result put Maccabi on pole to reach the Play-Off round and a clash against Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev, who were ousted from the Champions League by Cypriot side FC Pafos, on Tuesday.

On the other hand, qualification for Ħamrun Spartans would mean that they become the first Maltese team to reach the League Phase of a UEFA club competition.

This is because if they are ousted to FC Pafos in the Europa League, they will be playing in the League Phase of the Conference League.

Modica admitted that last week’s result was a bitter pill to swallow for his players.

“There is a lot of disappointment among my players because the pitch should have provided a different result to what we have shown on the day,” Modica told the Times of Malta.

“But unfortunately, in football, many times, the complete opposite happens and we were punished for what we failed to show during the match. We had seven or eight clear goalscoring opportunities, from which we failed to convert.

“Then we managed to take the lead, but we failed to capitalize on our advantage and ended up conceding a goal from a corner kick, despite having a numerical superiority as all our players were defending in the box. However, we were not focused enough.

“After that goal, the team lost its shape in the last ten minutes and conceded a second goal that we could have easily avoided as we failed to keep the ball in the final seconds of the match, and we ended up losing the match.

“That second goal was a major blow as, with a draw, we would have at least started the second match on equal footing with them, but now our chances are 60-40.

While the stakes look stacked against the Spartans, coach Giacomo Modica is not ready to throw in the towel just yet and is banking on his players’ spirit to try and upset the odds and secure what would be a historic achievement for the Maltese side.

“There is a great sense of providing the right response to that defeat,” Modica said.

“I can see in the players the determination to try and bounce back with a strong performance. But we can only achieve the result we want if we play as a team. We have already shown in Europe that when every player fights for each other, we are capable of taking on stronger sides.

“I am confident that if we take that approach, we can put on a very strong performance and see where that can take us. But we must fight hard throughout the 90 minutes and beyond.”

Asked whether he felt Maccabi Tel Aviv underestimated his team in the first leg, Modica said.

“If they did, then they had a huge mistake of valuation on us,” Modica said.

“However, in last week’s performance, I believe it was not much Maccabi’s poor display but more about a great performance from us. We didn’t let them settle down in the match, and I believe that we at least deserved a draw.

“Now, it’s important that we only show respect to our opponents but fear them never, we just have to play our game.”

Positive energy

Last week’s first leg was marred by an incident between goalkeeper Henry Bonello and defender Rafael Compri, who clashed at the final whistle.

Modica said that the incident is now behind them, but said that he wants the anger shown by the players to be transformed into positive energy tonight.

“Those are situations that should never happen in a football match,” Modica said.

“The players lost control of their emotions as they were disappointed by the way the match finished.

“The only positive I take from the situation is that we have to show that anger on the pitch. We know that we are playing a team that technically are superior to us, and the only way to counterattack is by showing grit, heart, and playing with high intensity. If we have those attributes, we will play a great match.”

As we end the interview, Modica has a message for his players.

“We need to believe that we can turn the tie around,” the Italian coach said.

“All the pressure is on Maccabi, and we just need to take the pitch with the conviction that we can overcome this hurdle.

“We have shown that we are on the right side and have 90 minutes or more to go into the club’s history books and we need to give everything we have. We owe it to the club and to our fans who are always behind us.”