MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud yesterday told the Press that he hoped the national team would continue building on its recent achievements which included the highly creditable 2-2 draw against Turkey.
That result not only enabled Malta to register new records – number of points and the number of positive results in a group stage – but also received acclaim from several countries, even from the Turkish press.
He said: “The team is well prepared and it is evident that we are on the right track. We have one more target to reach – that of avoiding bottom place in the group. We can still achieve it, considering that we and Moldova have five points each and we also have a match in hand.
“We also have next Saturday’s match in Hungary. Apart from the historic win at Ta’ Qali, let us not forget that our results against the Magyars have always been somewhat encouraging. And that included two draws, one of them in Budapest.”
Dr Mifsud announced that the match is being screened live on Smash TV on Saturday with the transmission starting at 4.20pm.
The MFA president also announced that the referees for these two matches are still unknown. “UEFA has decided that in the last few qualifying matches, these officials are to be announced only two days before the match. For the match against Hungary, these will be known today while for the Moldova clash, they will be announced on Monday.”
The president also urged local fans to fill the stadium next Wednesday as they did against Turkey and give their full backing to the local players. “We need such support in every match we play at home. Tickets will be on sale as from today from the usual outlets, even at Ta’ Qali Stadium on Wednesday before the kick-off,” he added.
Dr Mifsud also announced that for next month’s clash against Norway (21 November), 1,500 Norwegian fans are expected to come to Malta to support their favourites. Here he said that the Norwegians will be paying Lm15 for the match ticket at the Enclosure. The Maltese fans will be at the West side C of the Enclosure (Valletta side). But they are being given the opportunity to buy one ticket for the Moldova and Norway matches for the price of Lm15. The tickets at the Millennium Stand will cost Lm3 and those behind the goal-posts cost Lm2.
Dr Mifsud also spoke about more activities this month. These include a FUTSAL friendly match being staged at the Corradino Sports Hall, between Malta and Moldova next Tuesday, as well as a mini U-17 tournament in Estonia where the other participants will be England, Portugal and Estonia. He also announced that the women’s team will be taking part in a three-team friendly UEFA tournament in Bosnia between 31 October and 2 November. The other team will be Luxembourg.
Among other things, he also spoke about the new scoreboard. “It is now in place. We are making the final tests and we hope that it will be in use for the first time next Wednesday,” he added.
Others who spoke during yesterday’s conference were vice president L. Micallef who spoke about the forthcoming youth tournaments and Dr Peter Fenech, who spoke about UEFA’s Days against Racism, starting with the Moldova match on Wednesday, as well as Tommy Restall, head of the Referees Sector, who spoke confidently about Malta being accepted in the UEFA Referees Convention in December.