Sport • 27 April 2003

Ailing Malta out to ease pain

Joe Cardona

Malta will be hoping to put last month’s 6-0 drubbing against defending champions France behind them when on Wednesday it hosts Slovenia in a Euro 2004 Group One qualifier at the National Stadium in Ta’ Qali.

The defeat at Lens against the defending champions was a huge blow and morale is not the highest in Sigfried Held’s squad.

The German’s aim is to avoid more damage and during Friday’s press conference he showed his disappointment at his players’ performance against the French, especially after the break when Malta was outclassed.

The national coach demands more from his squad and emphasised that all his players must give their 100 percent as otherwise, he said, the end result will be another disastrous one.

Currently Malta is at the foot of Group One, still searching for its first points from five outings, with 17 goals against and scoring just one against Cyprus in a 2-1 away defeat.

Sliema Wanderers’ Joe Brincat and Lokomotiv Sofia’s Stefan Giglio, two key midfield players in Held’s side, who missed the France clash through injury are back in the squad and their presence will surely boost the Maltese players’ morale.

Another two players who missed last month’s qualifier through injury and are now are back in Held’s squad are Hibernians’ duo Adrian and Miguel Mifsud. Sliema Wanderers defender Jeffrey Chetcuti, who came in as a substitute against the French will miss the Slovenia clash through suspension after being handed a one-match ban.

Meanwhile Slovenia morale will be sky-high after the comeback against Cyprus this month and Bojan Prasnikar will have his men truly fired up for Wednesday’s clash. A win against Malta will consolidate his country’s second spot, which means a place in the play-offs.

Currently defending champions France are sitting pretty at the top of Group One with maximum points from five matches, scoring 19 and conceding only 2.

Malta and Slovenia have already met three times. The first meeting dates back in 1994 in the Rothmans International Football tournament, when the Slovenians won 1-0.

Their second meeting was two years after in the same tournament, with the match finishing in a creditable 0-0 draw for the Maltese.

The third and last clash goes back to September 7 of last year in the EURO 2004 Group One qualifier, when in Slovenia the Maltese lost 3-0.

The home side goals came through an own-goal by Valletta’s central defender Darren Debono on 37 minutes, with the other two strikes coming after the break through Siljak and Cimerotic on 57 and 90 minutes respectively.

Malta versus Slovenia starts at 20:30 and refereeing will be in the hands of Hungarian Attila Hanacsek. Andras Hrabovsky and Peter Kovacs will act as assistant referees, with Ferenc Bede the fourth official. The UEFA referee observer will be Kaj Oestergaard from the Danish FA.

On Tuesday the Under 21 national team will take on its Slovenia counterparts, in its fourth UEFA European Under 21 Championship outing.

Currently Malta is at the foot of the table on zero points and is still searching for its first goal, but national coach Mark Miller is very optimistic that if his lads show the same character when facing France last month, despite their 2-0 defeat, Malta juniors can finish with a positive result.

These two sides already met on September 6 of last year when in Slovenia the Maltese lost only 1-0.

The match, which will be held at Hibs Ground at Corradino starts at 17:45 and will be officiated by Darius Miezelis from the Lithuanian FA, while Darius Risgirskas and Edmundas Vencius are the assistant referees, with Darius Kancelskis the fourth official.

TICKET PRICES

Wednesday’s EURO 2004 qualifier match ticket prices are as follows:

West Stand A and C: Lm 4

Millennium Stand: Lm 3

Ladies, Kartanzjan holders and persons with Special Needs Card (in West Side C and Millennium Stand only): Lm 2

Persons on Wheelchairs (in Millennium Stand - accompanying persons to pay normal price): Free

Children Under 12 (in West Side C and Millennium Stand only): Lm 1

Meanwhile the Under 21 clash match ticket prices are Lm1, while ladies, children (Under 12), Kartanzjan holders and persons with Special Needs card holders enter free of charge.

PROVISIONAL SQUADS

Malta "A" Squad:

GOALKEEPERS: Saviour Darmanin (Pieta), Mario Muscat (Hibernians);

DEFENDERS: William Camenzuli (Birkirkara), David Carabott (Valletta), Ian Ciantar (Sliema Wanderers), Darren Debono (Valletta), Luke Dimech (Birkirkara), Carlo Mamo (Sliema Wanderers), Brian Said (Sliema Wanderers), Simon Vella (Airdrie/Scotland);

MIDFIELDERS: Joe Brincat (Sliema Wanderers); David Camilleri (Sliema Wanderers), Stefan Giglio (Lokomotiv Sofia/Bulgaria); Jonathan Holland (Floriana), Miguel Mifsud (Hibernians); Noël Turner (Sliema Wanderers);

FORWARDS: Daniel Bogdanovic (Cherno Moretz/Bulgaria), George Mallia (Birkirkara), Adrian Mifsud (Hibernians); Michael Mifsud (Kaiserslautern/Germany), Chucks Nwoko (Birkirkara).

Malta Under 21 squad:

GOALKEEPERS: K. Calleja, J. Haber. R. Gauci

DEFENDERS: I. Azzopardi, C. Ciantar, L. Lombardi, R. Mintoff, G. Sciberras, S. Tellus, K. Farrugia, A. Muscat, K. Zammit

MIDFIELDERS: S. Bajada, R. Bajada, J. Bondin, C. Cassar, K. Sammut, M. Brincat,

FORWARDS: N. Baldacchino, R. Briffa, T. Cilia, Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza, A. Sacco, A. Zahra,