HENRY BRINCAT

When the draws for the 2010 World Cup preliminary groups were made yesterday in Durban, South Africa, Malta was drawn in a tough Group One which will include Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and Albania.

National coach Dusan Fitzel and his players must be aware that this group will probably be tougher than the one in which we have just concluded our commitments in the Euro 2008 qualifying round where we played against Greece, Turkey, Norway, Hungary and Moldova.

Once again we will be meeting Hungary so soon after having faced them in the Euro 2008 qualifying group C. We will all be bringing back some happy memories of that remarkable 2-1 victory at Ta’ Qali in October of last year. May we have a repeat of that performance and result.

There is no doubt that the main contenders for the top spot which guarantees an automatic berth in the finals will be Portugal, Sweden and Denmark. They are three of Europe’s strongest sides. I am sure Dusan Fitzel will not be happy to be facing two Scandinavian opponents this time. Traditionally, they always spell big trouble for Maltese football sides, especially Sweden, against whom we have possibly the worst record.

This draw will bring along some of Europe’s top players, foremost among which are Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo who is Portugal’s star player and Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has returned to the Sweden squad this year.

Malta’s football enthusiasts will be looking forward to watch these two great stars in action at Ta’ Qali, even if it is still too early to say they will be definitely coming to Malta.

We have met all the five teams in our Group previously and apart from Hungary, Malta also played and lost 3-0 to Albania this summer in a friendly match in Tirana.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Malta also registered some good results against Portugal, losing 2-3 in Lisbon in 1985 in a World Cup qualifier and drawing 2-2 at Madeira in a European Championship qualifier. There were also three narrow 1-0 defeats at Ta’ Qali both in World Cup and European Championship qualifiers.

Against Sweden, Malta still remembers with pride the narrow 1-2 defeat at the Old Gzira Stadium, a result which forced the Swedes to play a decider against Austria to determine the winner. There was also a 1-0 defeat in Goteborg in 1987, as well as heavy 7-0 (twice), 6-0, 5-0 and 4-0 defeats. The second 7-0 and the 5-0 defeats were registered at Ta’ Qali.

Malta’s only victory against Denmark had arrived in a friendly at the old Gzira Stadium, way back in 1958 – it was one of Malta’s first international matches after the inaugural match against Austria the previous year. Competitively, our best result against Denmark arrived in 2001 – a 2-1 defeat in Copenhagen, after the Danes had won the Malta match 5-0.

For the record

Here’s our record against the five teams in our group which, after all, is not very encouraging:

vs Albania: Played five, won one, drawn one and lost three.

vs Denmark: Played six, won one and lost the other five.

vs Hungary: Played 10, won one, drew 2 and lost seven.

vs Sweden: Played nine and lost all of them.

vs Portugal: Played eight, drew one and lost the remaining seven.

It was former great Ghana Abedi Pele who drew the name of Malta first from pot A to be put in Group 1. Albania, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden and Portugal followed suit as the Group was completed. He and former French star Christian Karembeu drew the European Groups.

Pele had been named African Footballer of the Year in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Additionally, Pelé named him as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Karembeu had a glorious career with several clubs around Europe. He last played as a midfielder for Bastia in the French Ligue 1. They obtained him on loan from Swiss side Servette, until they lost their relegation battle. Prior to joining Servette, Karembeu played for Nantes (1990-95), Sampdoria (1995-97), Real Madrid (1997-2000), Middlesbrough (2000-01), Olympiakos (2001-04), Servette Genève (2004-05), Bastia (2005). With Real Madrid, he won the Champions League in 1998 and 2000.