Pietro Ghedin confirmed as national coach

Pietro Ghedin has been confirmed as coach of the Malta national team for another two years. This will mean that Ghedin will lead the team throughout the European Qualifiers leading to the FIFA World Cup 2018.

An agreement has been reached during a meeting between MFA President Norman Darmanin Demajo and Ghedin after the MFA President consulted the MFA Executive Committee.

Ghedin had coached the Malta Under-21 side in the early nineties before taking over as senior national team coach in 1993. In 24 matches as Malta coach between 1993 and 1995, Ghedin led the team to four wins and five draws. He was re-appointed as Malta coach in 2012.

In the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Malta collected three points in a group which included Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Armenia thanks to a win over Armenia in Yerevan while in the European Qualifiers leading to EURO 2016, Malta collected two points in a group which included Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan thanks to a draw against Bulgaria in Sofia and another with Azerbaijan at Ta’ Qali. During this period, Malta registered friendly wins in friendly matches against Liechtenstein (twice), Luxembourg, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands and Lithuania. In this second spell, Malta won six, drew three and lost twenty-four.

In a statement, the association congratulated Pietro Ghedin and wished him success with the national team for the future. The statement said that under Ghedin, the national team had a number of good games and positive performances which increased the team’s respect and reputation in the international football scene.