Maltese shock specialist Sciberras sees rivals under pressure and aims to pounce
MALTA veteran Gareth Sciberras is the chief financial officer of a branding agency. A revamp of Scotland’s identity may be beyond the skills of his colleagues, however, as Sciberras believes it would take a great deal of creative thinking to escape the idea that Gordon Strachan and his squad will arrive on the island under a great deal of pressure next weekend.
The midfielder, a 13-year stalwart of the national team, has already helped cause a shock for Maltese opposition against a Scottish outfit this season. He led Birkirkara to a famous 2-1 victory at Tynecastle to bundle Hearts out of the Europa League last month.
As that result helped belief grow to embolden Malta ahead of next Sunday’s World Cup qualifying opener, Sciberras suspects that a lack of conviction in stressed Scotland ranks might well be in his favour in the heat of the Ta’Qali Stadium.
‘I know that Scotland have a lot of pressure on them to do well in this campaign,’ said the 33-yearold. ‘I follow international football. I saw the Euros and, being the only British nation not involved, I’m sure that created a bit of pressure on the Scotland team to match the others.
‘I don’t mind people in Scotland thinking that they should beat us easily. I hope the players think like that as well.
‘That Hearts result was massive for Maltese football. It was the first time a Maltese club reached the third round of qualifying. Although Birkirkara have been involved in Europe for 16 or 17 years now, taking that step was a big achievement. Now a result in our first World Cup game would give us a lot of confidence.’
Following their heroics in Edinburgh,home to Krasnodar of Russia and Birkirkara lost 3-0 at crashed out 6-1 on aggregate. Keeping the game tight on home turf, as his club team managed in a scoreless contest against Hearts, will be the aim for Malta.
In Euro 2016 qualifying, Italy and Croatia were grateful to return from Malta with 1-0 victories over Pietro Ghedin’s stuffy side.
The Azzurri were no more emphatic in Florence when
Graziano Pelle’s second-half header separated the sides.
Scibberas said: ‘We do our best to make it hard for our opponents, especially when we play at home. I’m sure we’ll give Scotland a decent fight. Like all small nations — and all small clubs — you try to keep it compact.
‘You want to punish on the counter and, whenever you get the chance, try to put the ball in the net. That game plan worked great against Hearts. The national team tries to play to that same philosophy, though the squad does have some good individual players who can make a difference.
‘We’ve played quite well against bigger nations rather than the smaller ones. So we’re up for the challenge, especially at home. There, we have great supporters backing us. The weather conditions help us as well, so that’s another plus.
‘I could say the team is as good as ever right now.’