The Maltese national football team ended its commitments in the 2018 World Cup qualifying stage on Sunday, as usual finishing last in the group, with only one point gained. This draw was obtained against Lithuania last week, which was also the final game in Malta under coach Pietro Ghedin, who has now been replaced by new Belgian appointee Tom Saintfiet.

To put things into perspective, only San Marino, Liechtenstein and Gibraltar did worse than Malta in the European groups, losing all their 10 games in the competition. Kosovo, making its debut in the international field, won one point as well, while countries which for many years we considered as being on the same level as Malta, fared much better.

Andorra picked up four points with a win and a draw, while Luxembourg won six points – one win and three draws; the Faroe Islands were even more impressive, picking up nine points while, of course, Iceland qualified for Russia 2018 as top of their group, confirming their status among the football elite after their excellent performances in the Euro 2016 finals.

Malta’s group turned out to be the weakest of the lot, as the only runner-up team in the competition which did not qualify for the play-offs was from this group, Slovakia.

The defenders of Maltese football justify our lack of positive results with Malta’s small size, which limits our selection. Well, Iceland’s population is less than 350,000, which is of course smaller than Malta’s 440,000, and the population of the Faroe Islands and Andorra is - hear, hear – just 49,000 and 77,000 respectively.

So it is no excuse to say that the country’s size deprives us of possibilities. Where there is a will, there’s a way, but in Malta we do not have this will.

Little by little, Malta has fallen to the lowest places in the FIFA world rankings. The 191st place we occupied in September is the worst ever and, although it might slightly improve after last week’s 1-1 draw against Lithuania, the 66th place Malta enjoyed some 25 years ago – and, let us be reminded that it was under the same coach, Pietro Ghedin – is impossible to reach again.

It is said that Maltese players lack skills and physical fitness. It is said that the fact that most of the Maltese national players have never played professional football abroad contributes to our poor performances. It is said that the presence of too many foreigners in the Maltese leagues deprives youngsters of the possibility to play regularly. All this is true, but does this justify all that is wrong with national team football?

Let’s admit it: the Maltese players lack the discipline, attitude and mental strength to face their foreign counterparts. It’s as if they are already resigned to a defeat each time they set foot at Ta’ Qali or elsewhere. Once the first goal is conceded, they give up and the floodgates open.

Added to this, the Maltese sports media does not help with its mollycoddling. Sports journalists are the first to be happy if Malta loses 1-0; a common phrase used is “at least we played well” each time Malta lose, even with a big score. Instead of trying to spur our players, criticising them in a constructive way and pushing them to do better, the Maltese sports media has fallen into the same trap – that of accepting defeat before the game even starts.

In 1982, Malta beat Iceland 2-1, a result that remains one of the greatest moments of Maltese football history.

Now compare where Malta are today with what Iceland have achieved, and note the difference.