by The UEFA Women’s Nations League will tilt past the half-way mark tonight as Malta take on Georgia at the Centenary Stadium at 19:00 CET. Manuela Tesse & Iris Antman discussed the competition in the group and squad improvement while pushing for points this evening.
Past The Half-Way Mark
Malta will be welcoming Georgia at the Centenary Stadium following the reverse fixture held on Friday in Tbilisi, where Malta edged out a 3 – 2 victory.
Maria Farrugia grabbed a brace on the night and questioned on the improved connections up front, the forward happy with the dynamic to help the team secure the points, “We knew that we needed to improve from the first two matches. I think we created a lot of chances and looking back at the goals I think it truly showed the work we did on the training pitch.”
The matchday also saw Cyprus drop points for the first time in the competition, after being held to a 2 – 2 draw by Andorra. Manuela Tesse & Iris Antman were questioned on the developments in the group, including the fact that Andorra managed to take points from Cyprus.
Malta’s Manuela Tesse credited the improvement shown by Andorra, “Honestly, I thought Cyprus could have some problems against Andorra based on how difficult we also found it against them. We had things we could have done better of course in that match, but they were very organised behind the ball and they really make it difficult.”
Counterpart Iris Antman weighed in, “The pressure will rise even further now on all teams. I said it from the first match that Andorra will take points in this group. They gave us a tough game, they gave Malta a tough game and now we see that Cyprus as well. It’s a challenging group and I am very happy to see this because it means there’s good competition.”
Increasing Familiarity & Pushing For Growth
While the teams push for more as a unit, there are also nuances that each player brings to the table. At twenty-four years old, Malta’s Maria Farrugia continues to push in the Barclays Women’s Championship with Sheffield United Women, while having become one of the more indispensable players for Malta in the past years.
Farrugia admitted the elation at score a rare headed goal on Friday, “I don’t think I’ve ever scored a headed goal at international level so definitely it was a happy moment.” Usually a driving force to carry the ball forward for Malta and Sheffield United Women, Farrugia continued on the desire to widen her arsenal, “Of course I try to use the experiences with the club and the national team to push myself to bring in new aspects to my game.”
The fact that the two matches are so close to each other brings with it several tactical decisions for the two coaches. One of the elements is certainly having fresher legs tonight, but there is also always the element of trying different approaches or giving players minutes with the team.
Assessing the match, Manuela Tesse admitted the desire to have brought on other players earlier on Friday, but that conceding a goal in the 58th minute changed things, “I wanted to put players in earlier but we conceded through our individual mistake and we weren’t able to score the fourth goal. So, I had to wait a bit because I couldn’t break the balance and Georgia is a team that never gives up as we saw.”
However, still Malta’s coach was happy to see the improvement in linkage following the second international break with more minutes for new players with the more established squad donning Malta’s shirt, “Our first eleven hasn’t changed much since the last competition. Nicole (Sciberras) has come in instead of Brenda Borg but we know Nicole has played a lot before as well, while Oceane (Grange) was into her second match with the team. Of course, it is great to be able to give more players minutes on the pitch, but we also have had more time to train together and hopefully we continue getting better with every window.”
While Malta eyes more consistency among the changes in the squad as players come in from different leagues, the majority of Georgia’s players play their club football in their home-country. Iris Antman weighed in on the impacts that this has on their ambitions on the international stage, “All the players play in Georgia and it affects us for sure. The league is not at such a strong level. I am very happy for Malta because like us they are a small country and they have a lot of players going outside the country and the team benefits from this.”
She continued, “Unfortunately our players require more courage to go outside the country, but I am sure that they have the quality. I am here for them, to push them toward that dream because we are here to help them become the best version of themselves.”
Meanwhile, probed on the opposing element that the opportunity to play in closer quarters throughout the year has on the familiarity between players, Iris Antman continued, “Since a lot of the players play in different teams it is difficult to even get this benefit. So, the reality is that they only play together with the national team. The biggest benefit is when players play in top leagues. We see this in the top countries who go to the World Cup or EURO, their players play in the best leagues. We must push for that.”
Building Confidence & Cleaning Up Mistakes
Looking at tonight’s match Maria Farrugia is pushing for Malta to continue earning points as the competition heats up between teams. She said, “Of course every team is growing and pushing for more. We have the chip on our back because we won the group in the last competition. The win on Friday gives us some confidence but we know that Georgia have their strengths and that they will fight just as hard. However, of course we want to go on the pitch and do our best for the victory.”
Eyeing tonight’s encounter, Manuela Tesse suggested that the approach to the match will not change but was adamant that the team must clean up mistakes. She said, “They didn’t shoot much, but the three big chances they had were through our mistakes where we were four Maltese players against one player from Georgia. So, we need to learn the lessons because it is unacceptable to concede goals like this.”
Likewise, Georgia’s Iris Antman believes her team must do better, “It was a good match but we made a lot of mistakes and that made it difficult for us. In the first half we made mistakes and conceded three goals which made things tough, and I would say we won the second half on Friday, but it was not enough to win the game. We had more opportunities to score in the second half but we didn’t make the most of it. So, we must clean up the mistakes.”
Iris Antman conceded that she was forced into changes because of suspensions but also the scoreline, which puts a different light on tonight’s encounter.
However, the coach of Georgia is taking a calm approach toward the fixture with the belief that it is all part of the learning curve for her team, “I have been with the team for one and a half years and we’ve grown a lot together with every match. Last year we were in the play-off for the EURO and it was historic and a fantastic feeling. However, when you are growing it will be like this, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. The important thing is that we learn from the mistakes. We had opportunities to score, so I think our approach is good. If we score them, we can win, if we do not, then we will lose.”
The stage is set for the two nations to fight it out at the Centenary Stadium at 19:00 CET. Tickets may be purchased online while the match will also be live-streamed on TVM Sports+.
Lead Image: Georgia FA
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