Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/416739
56 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2014 Sport FOOTBALL Yesterday morning the Maltese national team had its official training session at the Vasil Levski National Stadium EVERYONE in the pro- visional squad seems to have recovered and is fit for the match including Andrew Hogg from the knock he had sustained in training in Malta. Clif- ford Gatt Baldacchino on the other hand did not travel with the team as he is not fully recovered. After the official training that was open to the media, the me- dia made their way to the press conference. Paul Fenech started by saying "Apart from the good performance we had in the last match we are looking forward to the match against Bulgaria. It is a tough game but after the last result here we need to give a good per- formance to try and get something out of this match ". Asked about the last two matches Fenech con- tinued to explain that "we need to take the positives from them and analyse the negative points and think about the match of tomorrow to continue in our gradual improve- ment. With a good per- formance we can aspire to score the first goal in these qualification matches." Clayton Failla reit- erated that "everyone knows that this is going to be a difficult game and we will need to show a strong character. We are not afraid and tomorrow will be another kind of game. In the past yes we lost six nil here and then after that game we showed character at home narrowly los- ing to Bulgaria 1-2. It will be a completely different game and we hope we will be able to get a good result. We need to concentrate on this match and forget the past ones and try and get some points from this match. As a team we need to get a great performance and if we play collectively and fight for every ball, yes I believe we can do it." Pietro Ghedin was delighted to hear that the two players in press conference reaffirmed that the players are not afraid. "I want my team to play football and try and keep control of the ball. We want to go in the pitch knowing and convinced that we are a good team and in good shape. I am proud to hear my players speak this way and I have faith in tomorrow's match knowingly that we will have a good performance" he said. Ghedin regards Bulgaria as being part of the elite of international football. They are a great team and they did well in the last competi- tion even though they were with us in a very difficult group. This time they started not so well, they were unlucky and they also found tough opponents in their way. He said Ghedin then was asked about Michael Mifsud. "Yes, Michael is an icon of Maltese football and we are feeling his absence, but this has given an opportunity to see a young player like Jean Paul Farru- gia to start in this match." "Jean Paul Farrugia will replace Mifsud for this game. We still don't know for sure if Mifsud has been suspended for two or three games but I'm sure that whoever plays in- stead of him will do his duty." Malta plays Bulgaria on Sunday 16th November at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia at 20:45 Hrs. The match will be shown live on TVM 2. Yesterday morning the Maltese national team had its official training session at the Vasil Ghedin looks forward to a positive performance against Bulgaria PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL ZAMMIT CUTAJAR Justin Haber Clayton Failla protecting the ball from Mark Scerri as Ryan Fenech looks on during training