De Leo says future looks bright after excellent international window

Second-half goals from Joseph Mbong and Alex Satariano proved decisive for Malta as they secured a morale-boosting win ahead of next September’s UEFA Nations League qualifiers against Andorra and Gibraltar.

It was another eye-catching performance from the team, who continued to build on the impressive showing they had against Slovakia earlier in the week, where the team was only condemned to defeat after conceding a goal with virtually the last kick of the game.

“I am very happy with the result and the performance,” De Leo told Times of Malta.

“This international window has been very important for us as it has further injected self-belief in the team and further underlined our progress.

“It is not easy in June to find the energy to face such teams. But this is a group of players who are fully motivated to work hard and continue to improve.

“Against Azerbaijan, I was pleased to see so many young players take part in the match and prove decisive in helping the team bring home the win.

“This is a win that will inject a lot of confidence and is very important for the future of the national team.”

De Leo said that the friendly against Azerbaijan has shown the way forward for the national team and said that taking the chances created is crucial, particularly in matches where the team has to suffer for long periods.

“The game against Azerbaijan was very challenging for us,” the Italian coach said.

“Azerbaijan seemed to have much more energy than us, and for long spells were putting us under a lot of pressure.

“When I effected a few substitutions, the team improved, and we managed to break the deadlock and go on to seal the victory with a second goal.

“We are a team that is destined to suffer a lot during matches and that is why we must make the most of the chances that we create.

“We need to be mentally strong in difficult spells as that strength in character can see us through.”

The win against Azerbaijan came just a few days after the heartbreaking defeat to Slovakia.

De Leo said that the upset against Slovakia was yes hard to fathom but deep down the team knew that they had done well and were still on a good path.

“Personally, I think the biggest satisfaction for me was to see so many youngsters experience at first hand a win in international football,” De Leo said.

“At the end of the game against Slovakia, there was a lot of disappointment among the players, but deep down every knew that we deserved more as we played a very good match.

“These two matches surely will help us to look at the upcoming UEFA Nations League with more optimism, as this team has a lot of potential.”

Still, De Leo said that the national team has still a lot to work on and one key aspect to improve is better decision-making when the team is in possession.

“I think one thing we need to improve is to be more patient when we have the ball,” he reflected.

“As a national team we have a lot of players with great technical ability but sometimes we lose possession too cheaply. We try to verticalise our attacking moves when holding the ball a bit more and having more movement off the ball would suit us better.

“But these are aspects on which we have to continue to work on but no doubt I am very satisfied with the work carried out so far and can look forward to the future with optimism.”