Malta eye a positive result in an international friendly against Azerbaijan

The match comes just a few days after the Maltese players suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 defeat against Slovakia at the DAC Arena where the team looked on course to take a morale-boosting draw, only to concede the second goal with virtually the last kick of the match.

But despite the negative outcome, there were many encouraging signs for coach Emilio De Leo, as the team showed great fighting spirit and managed to hold their own against a much superior opposition.

After such an encouraging display, De Leo will surely hope his players can build on their performance against Azerbaijan and will hope they can aspire to secure a positive result to boost their preparations for their UEFA Nations League commitments later on this year.

End-of-season international friendlies have traditionally seen the Maltese team suffer disappointing results, but this time it seems there is a different trend as the players produced a resilient display.

Speaking to Times of Malta, De Leo said that one of the main reasons behind Malta’s bright display was the players’ commitment.

“I think the main reason for the team’s bright showing was their level of motivation,” De Leo said.

“All the players in the squad were determined to put on a strong showing and gain a positive result. Although we effected ten substitutions during the match, the team never lost shape, and tactically we kept our discipline.

“There might have been concerns on the players’ physical condition, given that we are at the end of a long season, but everyone involved was determined to show their quality, and that helped the team produce a very encouraging performance.”

During Tuesday’s friendly against Slovakia, De Leo had many positives to take, and in particular the performances of several youngsters that left their mark during the match, namely defender Kean Scilcuna and forwards Andrea Zammit and Anthony Ewurum.

“I was very pleased with how several young players performed against Slovakia,” De Leo said.

“Kean Scicluna played for the first time at the heart of defence and did very well. The same can be said of Keyon Ewurum, who showed all his ability with the ball at his feet, while Andrea Zammit also left his mark, as when he came on, the team was passing through a difficult patch, but he helped us to ease the pressure on our defence.

“These are very positive signs, and this match should give them more encouragement to work harder and reach a higher level of performance.”

Turning his sight on today’s match against Azerbaijan, De Leo conceded that he might effect some changes to provide more game time to all players in the squad.

“Against Azerbaijan, I will try to give a chance to more fringe players so we can evaluate their level in international football,” De Leo said.

“But having said that, the goal will still be to try and maintain this positive trend that we are passing through.

“As I said, this is still a work in process and these games help us to understand the strengths and weaknesses we have in our team.

“But more importantly, we will do our utmost to try and end the season with a positive result.”