The national team faces one of its biggest fixtures in recent years when they battle against Luxembourg, with the winner winning promotion to League C in the UEFA Nations League.
While the match has inevitably attracted a lot of attention with the Malta FA, media, and fans heightening the expectations, coach De Leo has quickly tried to remove any pressure off his players and told them to take a positive approach and try to enjoy the occasion.
“Every member of our team should approach this match with a sense of pride,” the Italian coach told Times of Malta.
“Obviously, there is a lot of expectation for the first leg against Luxembourg, but I believe that, in primis, we should be pleased to have secured such an opportunity, approach it with responsibility, and try to make the most of it.
“We have a great opportunity to win promotion in the UEFA Nations League, but we should approach such an occasion with too much pressure or anxiety, as it will work against us.
“We must focus on ourselves, make sure we follow our team game plan and see what happens. One has to remember that our team is a work in progress, and we are trying to continue growing and maturing as a group – that has been the mindset since day one.
“This tie will be decided over 180 minutes, but our main focus should be to perform at our best for the first 90-95 minutes. We know there are going to be some difficult times during the match when we need to be resilient.
“Any match could be decided with a particular episode, and that is why we should not be emotionally influenced by particular incidents, and we need to make sure that we follow our game plan.”
De Leo is boosted by a full squad available for today’s clash, with the only absentee being winger Joseph Mbong, who must serve a one-match ban and will return for the second leg on Tuesday.
Asked to give his thoughts on Luxembourg, De Leo said that he is expecting to face a very technical side, blessed with several players who are plying their trade in top leagues around Europe.
“We have great respect for Luxembourg,” De Leo said.
“They boast an excellent position in the FIFA rankings and have been doing well for several years now. Their squad is full of experienced players who boast a great technique and have also played in top leagues around Europe for several years.
“I believe that they will try to hurt us with their quick transition play. On our part, we will need to try to match their physical strength and technical ability.
“But we too must remember that we have some talented players in our team that can cause them problems, so we are not planning to adopt a defensive approach, but we will play our game as we did against all the teams we played in the past few months.”
Captain Matthew Guillaumier is one of the leaders of the Malta squad and has experience in representing the country in crucial matches where promotion was at stake.
In November 2020, Guillaumier put Malta ahead in the final group clash against the Faroes, but a late goal from the Nordic side denied the national team a historic promotion.
“The circumstances of that match against the Faroe Islands were different than this time, as on that occasion we needed to win at all costs, while this time we have to play over two legs to win promotion,” Guillaumier said.
“However, that clash against the Faroe Islands and the heartache of missing out on promotion have certainly been a good learning curve for all the players. Today, our team is different, and we have several new players, with great quality, particularly in attack.
“Players like Chouaref, Cardona, and Teddy Teuma have given our forward line a new dimension and fill us with confidence that we can get the result we need. As the coach said, these matches are part of a learning process we are going through, and it will be crucial that we continue to build on what we have achieved so far.
“I believe that the most important thing for us is that we believe that we can get a positive result against Luxembourg. We have already played against them in the past. We know they have some quality players, but at the end of the day, it will be the pitch who will decide who will prevail.
“Luxembourg may start as favourites, but at the end of the day, they will have to show that they are better than us on the pitch.”