Despite defeat, Pietro Ghedin satisfied with very happy with his team’s performance
National coach Pietro Ghedin said after yesterday’s match that despite the match ended in defeat, he was very satisfied with the performance of the players who played their hearts out.
“A defeat is always a defeat, but my boys were great, especially goalie Hogg. I am also very happy to have seen my players physically fit against such a strong team as England. I just hope that we will be able to recover well in time for Tuesday’s match in Vilnius against Lithuania.
“We know that some players received knocks, so we have to wait to confirm the condition of these players.
“I also thank the thousands of fans who were at Wembley giving us their support. It was simply great,” he said.
His assistant Ray ‘Zazu’ Farrugia also showered praise on goalie Hogg saying that it was he who inspired the performance of his team-mates.
He added: “We came out of Wembley with our heads held high even if it had to be a good defensive performance.”
England ad interim manager Gareth Southgate said they had expected Malta to defend stubbornly. “We knew it would not be that easy. We were aware of the good results obtained by Malta against such top teams as Italy and Croatia. Malta are a difficult team to break down and it is always difficult to find space when opponents adopt 5-4-1 systems. But I am happy with the three points won,” he added.
Southgate said they now have to concentrate on next Tuesday’s away match against Slovenia.