After the well earned, 1-1 draw against Bulgaria on Wednesday in Malta’s last World Cup qualifier, the MFA, national players and coach had words of praise and appreciation towards the excellent support shown by the thousands of Maltese supporters who were present at Ta’ Qali.

Etienne Barbara, scorer of Malta’s 78th minute equaliser, was very proud of scoring his first competitive international goal, his third for Malta in ten appearances.

“The public was our 12th man and that made a lot of difference when playing in front of full stands” commented Barbara.

Captain Brian Said was of course very pleased with the result and emphasised that this was a continuation of the Croatia match.

“It seems that the present group of players can improve in the forthcoming matches” assured the Malta defender who also thanked heartily the public, coach and MFA.

He admitted that all players had to work hard under Heese but results were finally obtained.

National coach Horst Heese, in his last match at the helm, looked extremely satisfied and thanked all the players for the sacrifices they have made, after making them all labour hard. He was first to admit that they were made to shift their roles, such as George Mallia, who was given a midfield role against Bulgaria.

“Ian Ciantar did well after a long injury and played for the whole 90 minutes” said Heese, reminding all and sundry that the result was obtained without the services of the likes of Gilbert Agius and Claude Mattocks, both not fit.

Heese said that the first half was well balanced both in play and chances.

But he was extremely worried for the first 20 minutes of the second half although after they conceded the goal, the Maltese came back and equalised and had it not for some over excitement, Malta could have even won the match.

Bidding farewell after spending some ten years in Malta, Horst Heese praised his players for their attitude during his time. He thanked the MFA for giving him their trust and support but above all he thanked the Maltese public for their tremendous support.

“They were behind the players and the players responded well”.

Heese failed to comment on his successor but admitted: “I started a development in the local game during the past two years in charge. I might have not looked popular after taking some drastic measures and axing some players. But at the end I am pleased with the present group.”

Heese promised to return for Malta’s next match to monitor the progress and is willing to keep helping Maltese football in the future if the need arises.

Thanks and good-bye Horst!