Following a lengthy and enforced break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malta women’s national team have gradually resumed their preparations for their remaining UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 qualifiers.
All being well, their next qualifier is scheduled for September 22, against Denmark at the Centenary Stadium.
Under the guidance of coach Mark Gatt, the Maltese girls will be looking to maintain the momentum that helped them draw against Israel and beat Georgia in two of their recent four qualifying games. Their last official outing goes back to March 10 when Malta suffered a 3-2 defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina with their bold comeback in the second half just falling short.
After seven games, Malta have four points and with Georgia and Israel among their next three opponents, Gatt believes his team has what it takes to wrap up their European commitments on a high.
“Resuming training, with the appropriate medical protocol in place, was very important for us after such lengthy stop,” Gatt told mfa.com.mt.
“Our last game was in March and during that period we were already negatively affected by the coronavirus as some of our Italy-based players could not feature against Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“Nevertheless, the players have returned with a positive attitude and looking forward to completing this qualifying campaign on a positive note.”
The competition for places in the Malta women’s squad is a plus for Gatt.
“The players are aware that there is a strong competition for a place in the first team,” he said. “Such mentality is bringing the best out of the players in these training sessions and this will be very beneficial as we aim to lift this team to another level.”
Asked about the challenges he and his staff are facing in these training sessions following the five-month break, Gatt highlighted that his players’ attitude has made it easy for him and his colleagues to hit the ground running.
“It is a challenge in itself to gather the squad for the first time after five months of inactivity but the players have made it easy for us with their willingness to return to training as quickly as possible,” the Malta coach said.
“Apart from the requirements of the medical protocol, we didn’t have to start from scratch but resume our usual preparations so that we can approach the Denmark game and afterwards the Georgia and Israel double-header in the best possible form.”
After their home date against Denmark in September, the Maltese girls are due to face Georgia away on November 26 before concluding their campaign with a trip to Israel on December 1.
