Interim coach Davide Mazzotta will be making his debut on Sunday as Malta hosts Moldova in another match from Group D2 of the UEFA Nations League at the National Stadium, kick-off at 18:00.
Following a 2-0 defeat to Moldova in Chisinau and a narrow win over Andorra in Andorra la Vella last month, the Malta FA opted to sack coach Michele Marcolini and appoint Mazzotta as interim coach. Mazzotta, who had served as assistant coach to Devis Mangia and for a period of time Michele Marcolini, was entrusted to lead the team in the rest of the UEFA Nations League campaign which comes to an end next month with the home match against Andorra.
His task will be no easy one as Moldova claimed maximum points from the opening two matches, defeating Andorra 2-0 last Thursday following the win over Malta. To win the group and therefore obtain the long-awaited promotion to League C, Malta needs a win by at least three goals over Moldova and a win over Andorra in the next game.
Addressing the media on Saturday, Davide Mazzotta said “I met the players, one by one, to see what they felt and the team’s morale was a bit low, emotionally they were a bit down. They shared their thoughts. The motivational aspect is important in football. If one firmly believes in what he does, he could change the fate of a game, a moment or a situation. The players reacted immediately after the meeting. They have already shown this in training. It is clear that the state of mind depends on the individual and this can change from one game to another. However as a group, as a team there is already an emotional turning point. There is the desire to bounce back. It is clear that they feel the responsibility for the last two games.They have to react … they have to feel the responsibility of doing more as the blame has to be shared, it should not point only in one direction. All of us should feel the responsability of doing something more, everytime, although the result is conditioned by different factors.”
“The Moldova game will be difficult just like any other game. However we are serene because we worked well and we just have to face the game with courage. That is all. We, myself and the players, have known each other for a number of years now. That is an advantage for me … being able to start from a solid base … even if it was a few years ago … but there were certainties. We only introduced a few new things which I thought were important to teach … because football is evolving. Football changes all the time and therefore we need to evolve as well,” added Mazzotta.
“Moldova are strong but so are we. We only need to play with courage. We need to be calm and serene and face game by game with due respect towards our opponents. However we only need to believe in ourselves.”
“We must try in every way possible to dare. Our mentality should always be to attack. The more we are in their half pitch, the less we risk. The more ball possession we have, the less our opponents will have it. What they will try to do concerns us only to a certain extent as we need to be ready to face a strong and agressive side. We have to be ready to face a team that low blocks. We have to recognize this as soon as possible and act. They might defend, they might attack but we have to be good at acting accordingly.”
When asked how the cancellation of the friendly match against Turkmenistan influenced the team’s preparation ahead of this clash, the interim Malta coach said “There were advantages and disadvantages. On one side, the players could rest a bit more, those arriving from abroad could rest a bit and new faces could get to know better the other players and therefore there were a few advantages. But on the other hand, we were unable to try something new in an official test match. Turkmenistan are a very strong team which would have made it difficult for us in what would have been our first match together. We had a good test with Balzan who came to play against us and played with courage. This game served us a lot.”
Mazzotta took the opportunity to wish Balzan winger Awosanya Oluwatobiloba Dimeji a speedy recovery after sustaining an injury in the game.
When asked whether he preferred facing another team on his debut rather than a decisive game, Mazzotta said “I like to face challenges. These are the emotions .. these are the kind of games that one must experience. Some friends asked me whether I am worried, tense or anxious … I told them no because this is the sport that I live for. Sport is competition. You need competitivity because otherwise what kind of sport would this be!”
This will not be the first time, Mazzotta will be leading the team from the bench, having led the team in the absence of Devis Mangia on a couple of occasions and then as caretaker coach in a friendly match against Israel.
“I remember the day I led Malta against Andorra when Devis Mangia was serving a suspension. I was extremely happy and proud to sit on the bench. I will definitely feel the same on Sunday. I am definitely not worried about this as I believe in these players. Otherwise I would have not returned back here. I believe a lot in them and I am confident.”
“This is a young squad with great prospects. There are several young players and others who can make it in future. The national team is open for everyone, including more experienced players. From my point of view and from what I have seen in the past twenty days, there are great prospects. The technical qualities are there, the human values are there … they are all very good guys. I predict that there will be a big evolution because there are very interesting youngsters who could improve a lot although we will see if time will prove us right.”
Meanwhile Joseph Mbong said that the team has been preparing well for this game against Moldova and is focussed on gaining the three points.
“We will be going out in search of the three points. We should not concentrate only on our opponents who are definitely a valid team with quality players. We should play with confidence but not with arrogance.”
“As players, we feel the responsibility to go out in search of a win. Otherwise playing football would make no sense. It will be no easy game but we will do our best. The coach brought new ideas and will do our best to put these in practice. I am very confident about the team performing well. Whether this would be enough to win the game, obviously we will see.”
Photos courtesy of Andre Farrugia / Malta FA
For the clash with Moldova, Malta will be without the injured Steve Borg, Enrico Pepe, Carlo Zammit Lonardelli, Steven Pisani and Jodi Jones. However, new faces in the squad include Gzira United defender Gabriel Mentz, who was recently granted Maltese citizenship, Maltese-Australian Trent Buhagiar of Brescia, who has pledged his international future to Malta, Reading’s 19-year-old forward Basil Tuma and Birkirkara’s Neil Micallef. Floriana’s Dunstan Vella, Juan Corbalan of Hamrun Spartans and Birkirkara’s Alexander Satariano, who missed the September international window, are back along with Marsaxlokk captain Ryan Scicluna who has been recalled to the squad after a long absence.
The squad is made up of:
Goalkeepers Henry Bonello (Hamrun Spartans FC), Rashed Al Tumi (FC Sheriff Tiraspol – MOL), Matthew Grech (Zabbar St Patrick FC)
Defenders Jean Borg (Sliema Wanderers FC), Luke Tabone (Haverfordwest County AFC – WAL), Neil Micallef (Birkirkara FC), Kurt Shaw (Hibernians FC), Zach Muscat (No club), Gabriel Mentz (Gzira United FC)
Midfielders Matthew Guillaumier (FKS Stal Mielec Spolka Akcyjna – POL), Nikolai Muscat (Marsaxlokk FC), Ryan Scicluna (Marsaxlokk FC), Teddy Teuma (Stade de Reims FC – FR), Dunstan Vella (Floriana FC), Ryan Camenzuli (Ħamrun Spartans FC), Adam Magri Overend (Sliema Wanderers FC), Joseph Essien Mbong (Ħamrun Spartans FC), Juan Corbalan (Hamrun Spartans FC)
Forwards Jurgen Degabriele (Hibernians FC), Kemar Reid (Floriana FC), Luke Montebello (Hamrun Spartans), Paul Mbong (Birkirkara FC), Kyrian Nwoko (Floriana FC), Alexander Satariano (Birkirkara FC), Trent Anthony Buhagiar (Brescia Calcio – IT), Basil Tenywa Tuma (Reading – ENG)
This will be the tenth clash between Malta and Moldova with Malta winning just one game, Moldova five and three ending in draws. In the six matches played on home soil, Moldova won 2-0 in a friendly match in March 1999, Malta won 3-0 in the Rothmans Tournamen in February 2002 and a match from the Malta International Tournament in February 2004 ended in a goalless draw. Two years later, in another match from the Malta International Tournament, Moldova won 2-0 and in October 2007, Malta lost 2-3 at Ta’ Qali in a EURO 2008 qualifier. In March 2016, Malta and Moldova shared the spoils in a goalless draw in a friendly match.
After two back-to-back wins over Malta and Andorra in Chisinau, Moldova will be all out to claim the three points on Sunday in order to win the group and secure a spot in League C.
Coach Serghei Cleșcenco could not count on the injured Serafim Cojocari, Ioan-Călin Revenco and Andrei Cojuhar but Ion Nicolaescu could recover in time. Nichita Moțpan serves a one-match ban.
The players at his disposal are:
Goalkeepers: Cristian Avram (Araz-Naxçıvan PFK, Azerbaidjan), Dumitru Celeadnic (FC Sheriff), Nicolai Cebotari (FC Zimbru)
Defenders: Oleg Reabciuk (Spartak Moscova RUS), Sergiu Platica (FC Petrocub), Artur Crăciun (Puszcza Niepołomice POL), Victor Mudrac (FC Petrocub), Vladislav Baboglo (FC Karpaty Lviv UKR), Denis Marandici (Turan Tovuz PFK AZE), Andrei Motoc (Athens Kallithea FC GRE)
Midfielders: Artur Ioniță (Lecco ITA), Vadim Rață (FC Universitatea Cluj ROM), Mihail Caimacov (NK Slaven Belupo CRO), Victor Stînă (AEL Larissa, GRE), Cristian Dros (AF Elbasani ALB), Dmitri Mandrîncenco (DFK Dainava LIT), Dan Pușcaș (FC Petrocub), Daniel Danu (Chindia Târgoviște)
Forwards: Ion Nicolaescu (SC Heerenveen NED), Vitalie Damașcan (Maccabi Petah-Tikva FC ISR), Virgiliu Postolachi (FC CFR Cluj 1907 ROM), Maxim Cojocaru (SC Oțelul Galați ROM)
According to the regulations of the UEFA Nations League, if two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:
- higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
- superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
- higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
- if, after having applied criteria a) to c), teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to c) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the remaining teams to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria e) to k) apply in the order given to the two or more teams still equal;
- superior goal difference in all group matches;
- higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
- higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
- higher number of wins in all group matches;
- higher number of away wins in all group matches;
- lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
- higher position in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League Access List
Malta vs Moldova will be controlled by English referee John Brooks, assisted by Simon Bennett and Daniel Robathan and fourth official Sam Barrott. Michael Salisbury is the Video Assistant Referee and Timothy Wood Assistant VAR.