‘Malta have to look ahead’ - Farrugia
Ahead of the UEFA EURO 2020 EQ against Sweden at the National Stadium on Saturday, kickoff 20:45 local time, Malta head coach Ray Farrugia spoke about the importance of the upcoming two European qualifiers for Malta.
"I believe that the coming two matches are of utmost importance for us. We have been working hard and doing our best as always in our preparations for these two matches. My squad was hampered by the injuries to Juan Corbalan and Jean Paul Farrugia and we are also monitoring closely the injury to Zach Muscat. Probably we have lost three important players for these two matches. You know how difficult it is to recover all your energies for a second match in the space of three days. Obviously injuries are part of the game and we have to move on. Yes the Faroe Islands match is a sort of "final" for us but we have been working so hard for these two matches as always."
Asked if he was upbeat about these two matches, he said: "I believe in the abilities of my players. We carry on working hard this way. The players look very upbeat too, atmosphere is good so we are prepared and we take it on after these two matches and we have to look ahead," Farrugia concluded.
The team’s build-up intensified at the Malta FA Training Grounds all week.
From the initial squad named by Farrugia last Friday, Gżira United wing-back Juan Corbalan and Jean Paul Farrugia, the Sliema Wanderers forward, have been ruled out of the Sweden qualifier as they are still recovering from injuries. As stated by Farrugia, Zach Muscat is also being monitored over an injury.
No further replacements are planned for the time being as Farrugia and his coaching staff have a 24-man squad at their disposal.
For the record Sweden have won 12 out of 12 meetings with Malta. Malta then meet the Faroe Island in Torshavn on Tuesday, 15 October 2019.