Malta head coach Emilio De Leo and goalkeeper Henry Bonello addressed the media on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s final match of this international window against Andorra at the National Stadium.
Malta currently sit top of the group with four points, followed by Gibraltar on two points and Andorra on one.
De Leo said it is still too early to determine exactly which players will be available for the match, given that Friday’s only training session was focused on recovery.
“We had a recovery session with around half of the team, so at this moment I cannot really say who will be available or not. We will see tonight, together with my staff, and then we will have a clearer picture.”
The coach admitted that Thursday’s draw against Gibraltar was disappointing, but stressed that the team had already analysed the performance and identified the areas that need to improve.
“It was a disappointing draw. We have already seen what we can change and the mistakes we made. We had a good performance, but we did not express ourselves well enough. We were too cynical and not concrete enough.”
De Leo highlighted the need for greater courage and determination in the final third.
“We need to see the spaces, take risks, win the 1v1 situations and make the final pass. We need to fill the area and have the right determination. We created opportunities, but we were not good enough at converting them.”
Asked whether Gibraltar had surprised him with their performance, De Leo said that this was not the case.
“They did not surprise us. Every team tries to give you a good game. We need to be stronger when we recover the ball, strong in every sense, put our qualities onto the pitch and dominate the game rather than simply hoping that everything goes well.”
De Leo also said he did not have any regrets about the decisions he made during the Gibraltar match.
“I don’t like to judge decisions afterwards. There is a difference between taking decisions during the game and looking at them now. Obviously, I have reflected and I am self-critical; I do this all the time. For sure, we had to be more incisive.”
Bonello, meanwhile, spoke about Gibraltar’s goal, which took a deflection on its way into the net.
“The ball was deflected. If there was no deflection, it would have gone out, but with the deflection, whatever I did, it went the other way.”
The Malta goalkeeper also pointed to the chances created by the team during the match.
“We are speaking now because we saw that they had two shots on target and one of them was a goal. Had we scored all the chances we missed, we would be here speaking about a completely different game.”
De Leo acknowledged that the result against Gibraltar was difficult to accept, but said the experience could also serve as an opportunity for the team to grow.
“We analysed our mistakes and it was an own goal that we did not deserve. But these are moments that help us grow. We have to learn from them.”
Bonello added that the frustration of not winning was something that the entire squad shared, while insisting that Malta must remain focused and humble going into Sunday’s match.
“One thing that really affects the team is the frustration of not having won. Hand on heart, we know that we are the better team and that we have won the direct encounters most of the time. But we have to keep our feet on the ground. Every game has its own story and we have to do everything possible to win it.”
With Malta, Gibraltar and Andorra all still competing for the top position, Sunday’s final fixture of the window promises to be another important test for the national team.
Source: MFA
Photos: MFA
