"It's a pity that Andrè Schembri can't play," Dusan Fitzel, the Malta coach, told The Times on the eve of Saturday's World Cup 2010 home qualifier against Portugal.

"He has improved a lot since he went to play in Germany... Andrè has become an important player for us."

Long hailed as one of Malta's brightest football prospects, Schembri has been a permanent fixture in the national team for the last three years.

A red card in the 4-1 defeat to Norway in their final Euro 2008 qualifier last year meant that he was ineligible to face the Portuguese. The absence from such a lucrative match, left Schembri feeling frustrated but he's now raring to go as Malta step up their preparations for tomorrow's qualifier against Albania at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana.

"I was disappointed to miss out on Portugal but I'm now looking forward to the match against Albania," Schembri told The Times.

"I've been doing my utmost in training to show that I deserve to be in the starting line-up because my place in the team is not guaranteed."

A 4-0 upset in the opening qualifier can only have diminished Maltese morale and self-confidence but Schembri is sure that the team will raise their game against Albania.

"I know it's hard to be positive after a 4-0 defeat but I still think that Saturday's game was a very useful run-out for our team," Schembri remarked.

"I say this from experience because we tend to struggle to adapt to the high tempo of international football in our first competitive outing. Now that the team have been involved in a tough qualifier against one of the world's best teams, I'm optimistic that we will show an improvement in the second game.

"Two years ago we lost 5-2 at home to Bosnia before travelling to Frankfurt to face Turkey. At the time, everyone thought that Malta would suffer a heavy defeat but we only lost 2-0 to Turkey and our performance was satisfactory."

Despite his optimism, Schembri knows that Malta face another mammoth task to get something from Albania who started their qualifying trek with a goalless draw at home to Sweden.

"Albania have been making rapid progress in the last few years," Schembri, 22, commented.

"They have players in some of the top leagues in Europe, like the Serie A and Bundesliga. It's going to be another difficult match for us but nothing is impossible."

Schembri is one of only four foreign-based players in Malta's 18-man squad, the others being Michael Mifsud (Coventry City), Justin Haber (Sheffield United) and Etienne Barbara (SC Verle).

Schembri, formerly of Marsaxlokk, joined third division club Carl Zeiss Jena last summer after a one-year stint with Eintracht Braunschweig.

Schembri may not be playing at the top level of German football but, as Fitzel said, his career has clearly benefited from his switch to a professional club.

"Fitness-wise, I have become stronger since I moved to Germany," Schembri said.

"My attitude to football has also changed. When you're a professional footballer, you think and live in a professional way, that's the main difference I guess."

The Malta striker has settled in nicely at Carl Zeiss Jena.

"I'm happy at my new club," Schembri said.

"The main thing is that I'm now playing in my favourite position as a central striker. The championship we're in is very competitive especially after the organisers merged the south and north regional leagues.

"I've got a one-year contract with Jena. My ambition is to move to a bigger club in future and I think this league is a good stepping stone."

Malta squad in Tirana

The chartered Air Malta flight carrying the Malta FA contingent and around 40 other passengers, including some fans who joined a tour organised by Mondial Travel, touched down in Tirana in the early hours of yesterday.

Ivan Woods, a starter against Portugal, had to pull out of the squad after suffering a slight thigh injury on Saturday. His withdrawal spared Fitzel the 'awkward' decision of having to drop another player from his selection to make way for the returning Schembri.

Roderick Briffa hurt his right hand on Saturday but the injury will not prevent the Sliema player, deployed at right-back against Portugal, from lining up against Albania tomorrow.

Yesterday evening, the Maltese squad had their first practice session at the training grounds of local club Dinamo Tirana. This evening, they will train at the Qemal Stafa Stadium, venue of tomorrow's qualifier.

The referee of the match is Robert Schoergenhofer, from Austria.

 

A rare show of Maltese pride on the terraces of the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana on Wednesday was matched by a spirited performance on the pitch but it was just not enough.

A sense of déjà vu is likely to have gripped the entire Maltese contingent as well as those who watch the national team frequently enough to know that the pattern of the midweek qualifier was painfully familiar.

The bottom line, of course, is that the Maltese side failed to deliver for the umpteenth time and questions will always be asked about our national team's perpetual struggles to avoid heavy defeats against better teams but, in Albania's case, certainly not a top-tier one.

Malta will always remain Malta, a miniscule footballing nation with a narrow pool of players and a poor domestic league, not to mention the generally amateurish organisation of our clubs, all engaged in a continuous battle to make ends meet.

Yet, a couple of positive results in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign had raised optimism of sustained improvement by our national team and there were spells in Tirana when our players produced some flowing football as they pressed for an equaliser.

"Prosit," Fatos Daja, the St Patrick and Ħamrun Spartans' former Albanian defender told goalkeeper Justin Haber, one of Malta's better players on Wednesday, at the airport in Tirana in the early hours of yesterday.

Daja also felt compelled to congratulate the other players.

"Well done, I'm genuinely impressed by the improvement of the Maltese team," he added.

"You tried to play positive football and you were tactically organised on the pitch."

Finding positives after a 3-0 defeat was not easy, especially as it came hot on the heels of a 4-0 drubbing to Portugal the previous weekend. Malta have thus suffered seven goals in their opening two qualifiers and scored none, a statistic not lost on Dusan Fitzel.

In his post-match analysis the coach offered some interesting perspectives on Maltese football and the national team.

"We are having problems concluding our attacks," Fitzel observed. "There were moments during the game when our players managed to keep possession and even got the ball into the opponents' box but they didn't know what to do next. The final ball let us down."

Although pleased with the team's valiant but ultimately fruitless efforts not to finish empty-handed, Fitzel lamented the laid-back attitude that is prevalent among Maltese players.

"For these players, football still means fun, they don't see it as a hard job," Fitzel remarked.

"This mentality makes it more difficult because my work to improve things doesn't pay off most of the time."

Albania's tactical strategy held no surprises for the Malta coach.

"I knew this game would be difficult for us but Albania played as we had expected them to and we were prepared for this kind of approach," Fitzel said.

"We looked better than against Portugal but conceding a goal just before half-time was a huge psychological blow.

"That said, I was pleased with my team's performance for most of the second half. I think the players showed their character."

Fitzel rued the manner and timing of Albania's second and third goals in the final five minutes of the match.

"I'm very disappointed about their second and third goals," Fitzel said.

"Albania's second goal came at a time when we were pushing hard for an equaliser."

Fitzel made three changes from the team that lost 4-0 to Portugal as the returning Andrè Schembri replaced Terrence Scerri, Etienne Barbara filled the void left by the injured Ivan Woods and Aaron Xuereb got the nod ahead of the experienced Brian Said in defence.

"I decided to make those changes because I felt that these players would help make the team look more aggressive," Fitzel said.

"Said is getting older and I have to start looking for alternatives. That's why I named Xuereb in the starting team. He committed a couple of mistakes early on but improved as the game progressed."

Fitzel also rebuffed claims that the Maltese played rough after a series of abrasive challenges, especially in the second half, infuriated the Albanians.

"I don't think we were over-aggressive," Fitzel said.

"In the end, it's the referee who decides on these matters and he cautioned three of their players and only one from our team."

Having voiced his displeasure at the team's meek surrender to Portugal, Fitzel ought to have been satisfied with the feisty showing in Tirana but it is clear that commitment alone will not win Malta points.

Fitzel has shown that he's a very bright coach with an ability to make the most of the resources at his disposal but his demeanour in the last week suggests a man that has not yet come to terms with the complexities of Maltese football.

The Czech is a demanding man and like everyone else, he hates to lose but a more positive mindset could have an equally positive effect on the players, especially ahead of next month's qualifiers away to Denmark and at home to Hungary.

As for the players, these two defeats will hopefully increase their motivation to raise their standards, and not just when they pull on the national team's shirt.

We also want to see the same commitment from all the players when they train and play for their clubs.