De Leo wants national team players to show they learnt from 8-0 defeat to the Netherlands

Malta national teams’ head coach Emilio De Leo has called on his players to prove that they have learnt from their past mistakes when they host the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium on Thursday (kick-off: 8.45pm).

The national team has the opportunity to bounce back from last June’s shambolic 8-0 defeat against the Netherlands when they host the Oranje in the return match at the National Stadium.

And coach De Leo made it clear that the match provides a perfect chance from his players to show that they have learnt their lessons and can produce a much sterner challenge to the Euro 2024 semi-finalists.

“During the past month, we have gone through a very tough learning path that has provided us with some tough games against top-quality sides,” De Leo told a news conference.

“I don’t need to remind any of my players what happened in the first match against the Netherlands, as it was a very tough learning curve for our team. But this team is midway through an important phase of development, and this match is the perfect opportunity to show that we have learnt our lessons from our previous showing against them.

“Our goal is to continue to grow as a team, and what I expect from my players is that we continue to express ourselves and show our football identity. After that heavy defeat against the Netherlands, the team has managed to bounce back with our performances last month against Lithuania and San Marino, and we need to continue this path.”

Asked what he wants to see from his players, De Leo said: “The most important thing for me is to see the right attitude. We need to showcase our best qualities on the field of play. We have some talented players in our squad and we need to show that they are developing into even better players.

“Then, obviously, when you face a top team like the Netherlands, we need to keep our concentration levels very high, in all situations of the game. We need to adapt well to different situations, both in defence and in attack, in very little time.

“It’s a great challenge for us, but we need to be at our best.”

The locally-based players forming part of the national team come into this month’s window on the back of a very hectic block of fixtures with Premier League teams forced to play five or six matches in the space of two weeks.

Asked what his view was on such a scenario, De Leo said, “Unfortunately, this has become a norm in football. We have many players who, in the past weeks, have been very busy and lost some important players to injury.

“I don’t have any plans to be controversial, but it would be good if we try and find a good equilibrium so that the well-being of the players is protected. Unfortunately, this is an occurrence not just in Malta but in all countries in European football.”

“On a more positive note, we have players who have played a lot of matches in UEFA club competitions and today are experiencing a fairytale experience,” he added in reference to Ħamrun Spartans’ historic qualification to the League Phase of the UEFA Conference League.

“Such a feat brings a lot of positives not just to their club but to Maltese football in general, as our players are playing matches of high intensity against some great sides, and that is helping them to grow in all aspects of the game.

“And surely that is of great benefit to see Maltese football reach higher levels of performance.”

‘Games we live for’

On his part, Joseph Mbong, the Malta winger, admitted that he and his team-mates cannot wait to face the Netherlands and their main goal is to show that they are a better team than the one that was heavily beaten in Groningen.

“Honestly, as players we live to play these kind of matches,” the Ħamrun Spartans winger said.

“Our focus is to try and perform to the best of our ability and produce the best game possible. It’s a tough game, but hopefully we can manage to get something out of it.”

“It was a huge disappointment for us to lose in that manner against the Netherlands and we are determined to make up for that result.

“I feel that in the last international window we have already shown that we are a much better team and we aim to continue to improve further.

“We are always keen to learn from our past mistakes and we have discussed these issues with our coach and hopefully we can show that against the Netherlands.”