The Maltese and Russian teams will soon meet again in the 2022 World Cup qualifying round. The match will take place on 7 September in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, ex-Stalingrad, which became famous for important battles during World War II. And if in the first match played in Malta in March, the Russian team, according to analysts, was not too determined to show superiority (one of the main Russian online sports portals published an article immediately after the game with the title: "Malta did not look like a soccer midget against the Russian team"), then after the just-completed European Championship, the Russian players plan to prove in every match that they can do better and just stumbled over a difficult group.

Recalling the March game, Vyacheslav Koloskov, honorary president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), said: "There were no serious impressions from the game, no one doubted our players would win ... but there were moments when the score was 2-1, which made me worry." Russian forward Aleksandr Sobolev, the author of the third goal against Malta, called the opposing team organised and fearless. "The game was not easy, actually. After the opponent's goal, there was a little swing. It is good that we scored and calmly ended the match with a victory.  After the break, Malta probably switched on, began to press more, kept the ball, scored a good goal. The score was not so comfortable 2:1, so it got a little harder. It didn't matter that I scored. It's good, that we've scored and we got the game. So far, we shouldn't look at the scoreboard, we should look at ourselves, at our game, improve it and win every match," the Russian team press office quotes Sobolev.

Dmitry Smirnov, a journalist of the most famous sports newspaper in Russia Sport-Express and a soccer specialist, explains for The Malta Independent that, in his opinion and the opinion of some colleagues, the result of the national team's play at the European Championship was unsatisfactory.  "There was a lot of negativity around the national team during and after the European Championship and the dismissal of the coach helps in such cases to dump the negativity, because it's like a fresh start," says the sports commentator. "Now, by the fall, the public will be negative towards the national team as well. And I don't expect a breakthrough in the game. In the match against Malta we will see the same team; with its strengths and weaknesses, as neither the coach nor the players will have changed to this game." According to the journalist, under Cherchesov (coach of the Russian national team since 2016), the team "isn't jumping over the top but it isn't dropping its face in the mud either". And this trend will continue in the World Cup qualifiers. Therefore, Russia will defeat the Maltese team, but it will be difficult to overcome stronger teams.

Igor Vladimirov, the press officer of the Russian national soccer team, spoke to the players of the team at the request of The Malta Independent. The athletes noticed the potential of the Maltese team's game. "You can't proportionally correlate the level of soccer to the size of the country or the population," Vladimirov said. Russian players believe that the skill of a national team depends on the level of the championship in which the players play. Even though, among European championships, the Maltese team is not in the lead, the progress of Maltese soccer is noticeable, members of the Russian team pointed out.

The group, in which the two national teams ended up, is described in Russia as both very equal and very challenging. "In fact, most of the time, it is easier to play in a group where the favourite is obvious. The favourite always wins, while the rest deal with each other. It's easier," says Smirnov. The soccer expert believes that there will be "confusion" in the group because Croatia, which is the favourite on paper, is not actually the favourite. The national team is undergoing a generational change; many outstanding players are ending their careers and the young ones have not yet learned how to take responsibility. Despite their memorable comeback against Spain, the Croats have already been kicked out from the 1/8 finals. Theoretically, Russia, Slovenia and Slovakia could overtake the Croats, taking the lead. However, each of the teams has a common problem - none of them can boast an outstanding generation. Russia's squad is as old as Slovakia's. Slovenia's squad is not considered outstanding at all. Therefore, all teams will lose points (this has already happened in the first three rounds when they all defeated each other), which will give Malta a great opportunity. We've already seen that the Maltese team can score more points than expected in such a group. They just have to take advantage of the team's current problems. So, from Malta's point of view, it's a very comfortable group. "The team has a great chance to please its loyal and passionate soccer fans," concludes Russian commentator Smirnov.