After losing narrowly to Slovakia on Monday, Malta takes on Azerbaijan at the Haladás Sportkomplexum in Hungary in another international friendly match on Friday, kick-off at 20:00.
Two friendly matches which Malta national team head coach Emilio De Leo is using to prepare in the best way possible ahead of the UEFA Nations League commitments against Andorra and Gibraltar between September and November.
Against Slovakia, the team performed well, being unlucky to concede a goal seven minutes in added time to lose 2-1.
Photos courtesy of Malta FA
Speaking on Thursday, De Leo has praised the attitude and commitment shown by his players in the game against Slovakia, highlighting the determination and motivation displayed by the team.
“The difference was the motivation and the desire the players showed to produce a good performance. All the players involved gave their best. We made ten changes and every player who came on did so with the right attitude. Tactically, they gave us an important boost.”
The Malta coach took the opportunity to field a total of twenty one players throughout the match, handing players like Kean Scicluna and Keyon Ewurum a start.
“We had a couple of young players making their first starts for the national team. At that stage, the physical aspect becomes secondary because what really matters is showing how much you want to be here and proving that you are at the service of the national team.”
“I was very happy with Kean (Scicluna)’s and Keyon (Ewurum)’s performances. (Kevin) Cannavo and Andrea Zammit came on at a difficult moment when we were suffering and they provided the boost we needed. Overall, I was very pleased with everyone’s performance.”
“We still need to evaluate the level of the other players in the squad, but we must continue on the path we have started. Any player who is given an opportunity will not receive it as a gift, but because they deserve it and because they can bring something new to the team.”
Kean Scicluna said he was happy to make his first start for the senior national team.
“I was extremely happy to receive my first start for Malta. Naturally, I was tense during the opening moments, but once I settled into the game I was able to enjoy the experience.”
“We were disappointed with the way the game ended against Slovakia, especially conceding in the final moments. However, we know that we gave everything against a very strong team. We have put that game behind us and are concentrating on Azerbaijan. They are also ranked above us and will certainly provide another tough challenge. We are prepared and hopefully we can translate the work we have done in training into the match itself.”
Meanwhile Azerbajian coach Aykhan Abbasov’s squad is made up of players, mainly based in the domestic league apart from six players, based in Bulgaria, South Korea, Albania, the USA, Germany and Poland.
The players selected by Abbasov are:
Rza Cəfərov (Qəbələ), Şahrudin Məhəmmədəliyev (Qarabağ), Emil Balayev (Neftçi), Bədavi Hüseynov (Qarabağ), Cəlal Hüseynov (Arda – BUL), Anton Krivotsyuk (Daejon Hana – KOR), Rahil Məmmədov (Araz-Naxçıvan), Elvin Bədəlov (Neftçi), Rəhman Daşdəmirov (Sabah), Qismət Alıyev (Zirə), Elvin Cəfərquliyev (Qarabağ), Rüfət Abbasov (Şamaxı), Tellur Mütəllimov (Sabah), Toral Bayramov (Qarabağ), Emin Mahmudov (Neftçi), Səbuhi Abdullazadə (Sumqayıt), Rəhim Sadıxov (Turan Tovuz), Mustafa Əhmədzadə (Araz-Naxçıvan), Emil Səfərov (Neftçi), Abdulla Xaybullayev (Sabah), Aleksey İsayev (Sabah), Rüstəm Əhmədzadə (Sumqayıt), Ayxan Hüseynov (Turan Tovuz), Vüsal İsgəndərli (Partizani – ALB), Xəyal Əliyev (Sabah), Nəriman Axundzadə (Colombus Crew – USA), Mahir Emreli (Kaiserslautern – GER), Renat Dadaşov (Motor – POL).
Over the past twenty four months, Azerbaijan lost fourteen of the twenty matches played. They were relegated from the UEFA Nations League after finishing bottom in Group C1a and in the European Qualifiers leading to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they earned just one point in a draw with Ukraine. In the 2026 FIFA Series last March, they defeated Saint Lucia 6-1 and defeated Sierra Leone on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
Malta and Azerbaijan met nine times. Malta registered a 5-0 win in April 1994 and a 3-0 win in February 2000 before obtaining a narrow 1-0 win in April 2002 in three matches at home. Azerbaijan defeated Malta for the first time in a friendly match in August 2013 while in March 2015, Azerbaijan won 2-0 in a EURO 2016 qualifier. At home, Malta earned a point in a 2-2 draw in the same EURO qualifiers in September 2015. In the UEFA Nations League 2018, the two clashes ended in 1-1 draws – in September 2018 at Ta’ Qali and October 2018 in Baku while in March 2022, Malta defeated Azerbaijan 1-0 in a friendly match at Ta’ Qali.
Malta vs Azerbaijan will be controlled by Hungarian referee Mihály Káprály, assisted by Balázs Buzás and Bence Belicza and fourth official Tamás Bognár.