by Malta’s U17 Women’s National Team completed their UEFA U17 Women’s European Championship tournament with a victory against Azerbaijan and two defeats against Luxembourg & Bulgaria. Clint Tabone discussed the tournament in view of performances, growth & the importance of pride in wearing the shirt.
Reviewing The Performances
Malta completed the second round of the UEFA Women’s U17 European Championship with a 2 – 0 victory against hosts Azerbaijan, which followed two 5 – 0 defeats against Luxembourg and Bulgaria.
Clint Tabone was asked to give his assessment of the results against the expectations the side had. He began, “I am obviously happy with the result and performance against the hosts, as it shows that we can compete and achieve good results even against strong teams. The defeats against Bulgaria and Luxembourg do not mean that our players didn’t give their utmost. However, we made certain mistakes that, unfortunately, were reflected in the results, even though our performance deserved better.”
The two defeats came in the first two matches, with Clint Tabone discussing the ambition to improve after each performance. He said, “After every game, we worked to limit those mistakes, and in a very short time, we managed to improve. Our expectations will always be to give our best against every team we play.” However there was no indication of any particular result that the team wanted to achieve.
Take-Aways On Mentality & Technical Improvements
As noted above, the victory came in the final match with two goals that came from free-kicks and in very quick succession, courtesy of Nina-Lee Naudi, with assists by Amy Catania. Clint Tabone was questioned on whether he believes there are positives not just in the victory, but in the way that the team pushed for a second goal whereas they may have relinquished pressure or even conceded an immediate goal in the past.
He replied, “Absolutely! Scoring two quick goals right after halftime shows a strong mentality. After the first goal, the team stayed focused and pushed to extend their lead. This kind of response is a great sign of maturity and tactical discipline.”
Giving some insight into the half-time team-talk he said, “During halftime, the team was encouraged to keep believing and to build on the first half, as their attitude and determination showed. Maintaining intensity after scoring is crucial.”
On the other hand, the U17 national team coach was asked to give his insight on the fact that Malta’s goals came from set-pieces but there appears to be a limited output from open play.
He replied, “Scoring goals is already a positive for us, and apart from that, we managed to create other opportunities to score in all the games. Sometimes, we need to be more aggressive in front of goal and believe more in our ability to finish. We’re working on playing with more confidence, and the last game against Azerbaijan showed that.”
Eyeing the defensive stance and the goals conceded he continued, “However, we also need to work on avoiding mistakes in how we concede goals, as we experienced in the tournaments. We’ve focused a lot on improving our back line, but sometimes we don’t always have control over how we concede. That said, we need to accept certain mistakes and learn from them.”
Player Selection: Backing Attitude & Desire With Performance
Finally, the team featured several players with changes across the field including in goal. Tabone was questioned on whether he believes players took the opportunity or if he wants to see more concrete desire for a place in the national team.
He started, “There was plenty of rotation, and I had to give younger players the opportunity, especially since we had players born in 2008 who were called up to the U19s.”
Meanwhile, Tabone had stern words for a few others, “We also had three other players born in 2008 who refused to be part of the U17s squad, but that doesn’t bother me. To be part of the national team squad, you need to be proud to represent it. If you refuse, you don’t deserve to be with the team.”
He finished, “Most of the players took the opportunity and have a bright future ahead of them. However, there are still individuals who need to work harder.”
A Single Positive Result At The End Of Two Tournaments
Much of Malta’s U17 cohort went into this tournament following the U16 Development Tournament. Between the two tournaments Malta amassed just one victory at the final match, which followed a string of five defeats across the two tournaments.
Clint Tabone was questioned on whether he believed this was a result of possibly the team playing with less pressure considering the disappointments that came before, or if it was a case of the perseverance to get a result despite the previous disappointments.
He weighed in, “It could be a mix of both, but it’s hard to compare. In the U17s, we played with a very young squad, consisting of seven players born in 2010, nine players born in 2009, and only four players born in 2008 two of whom were goalkeepers. We were competing mostly against teams made up of 2008-born players. The reduced pressure in the last match likely allowed the players to play with more freedom, making them less afraid of making mistakes.”
On the other hand, Tabone also believes the limited time the national team coaches spend with the players has an effect. He continued, “However, we also have our limitations. The fact that we had only a few sessions to prepare the team made a big difference, especially when compared to other teams that train together three times a week throughout the year.”
Still, Tabone hailed the attitude of the coaching contingent supporting him to push players toward improvement, “Despite these challenges, we tried to keep working every day during both tournaments, stayed positive, and continued pushing the players to fight harder and believe in themselves.”
Shifting Focus On The U19 & Senior National Teams
The U19 squad will be the next to be under the spotlight, together with the Malta Women’s Senior National Team in the upcoming international break. It will run between the 31st March & the 8th of April.
Malta’s U19s will be facing Kosovo (1st April), Latvia (4th April) & Khazakhstan (7th April) in Malta’s Centenary Stadium for the UEFA Women’s U19 European Championship Tournament.
The senior national team will continue their UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign with a double-header against Georgia to be played on Friday 4th April (away in Georgia, 17:00 CET) and Tuesday 8th April (Centenary Stadium, 19:00 CET).
However, until then players will be donning club shirts. Several U19 players will be featuring in the Assikura Women’s Youth League which continues this evening following being on hiatus since the 12th of February.
Tonight presents a double-header as confirmed Youth League champions, Swieqi United, take on Birkirkara at the Sirens Stadium (20:15), while Hibernians face Valletta at Mgarr Ground (20:15). Tomorrow presents the Bottom Three fixture between Mtarfa and SK Lija at 20:15 at the Charles Abela Stadium.
Following that the Assikura Women’s Youth League will be interrupted again until the 15th of April to accommodate the international break listed above.
Lead Image: Azerbaijan FA
Make sure to never miss an Assikura Women’s League match by syncing your calendar here.
Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X
