Malta lost 3-0 to Croatia in Zagreb last Wednesday in yet another difficult World Cup qualifying match from Group 8.

The respectable defeat, however, came as no surprise, knowing beforehand the strength of our superior opponents.

In fact Malta’s coach Horst Heese was satisfied with the contribution of his players and confirmed that the result was not a bad one after all.

The lack of commitment in our domestic league was again blamed after the defeat, taking into account the competitive leagues the Croatia players take part in all around Europe.

Malta gave a better second half performance, especially after Ivan Woods went in as substitute for Massimo Grima.

The energetic Woods helped ease some pressure off his team mates in the defensive phase as Malta at times tended to wilt under the Croat’s pressure.

Two first half goals by striker Dado Prso and another by defender Igor Tudor, 20 minutes from time, enabled Croatia to top the Group, one point more than second placed Sweden.

Malta’s next fixtures are two away games to Sweden and iceland in early June.

Match statistics

Croatia 3

Malta 0

Lineups:

Croatia: Tomislav Butina; Stjepan Tomas, Igor Tudor, Robert Kovac (Ivica Olic, 46), Ivan Bosnjak (Mario Tokic, 67), Niko Kovac (Jurica Vranjes, 77), Ivan Leko, Niko Kranjcar, Marko Babic, Ivan Klasnic, Dado Prso.

Malta: Justin Haber; Peter Pullicino, Ian Azzopardi, Kevin Sammut, Brian Said, Stephan Giglio, Claude Mattocks, Luke Dimech, Gilbert Agius, Michael Mifsud (Etienne Barbara, 67), Massimo Grima (Ian Woods, 46).

Referee: Costas Kapitanis (Cyprus)

Scorers: Prso (23, 45), Tudor (70)