San Marino v Malta, Costantini: "We have to improve our approach to the game"

From the sleet of Tallinn to the blazing sun of Serravalle, all in the space of just 72 hours. The San Marino National Team are preparing to face Malta (tomorrow, 15:00 – San Marino Stadium) on Matchday 2 in Group D2 of the UEFA Nations League. They come into it off the back of a good performance in Estonia, unfortunately not rewarded with points. This is where Costantini picks up from as he previews tomorrow’s match in his press conference: "Against Estonia we expressed ourselves quite well, even though we didn’t get the result we wanted. The performance was more than positive and that is certainly what we need to build on. We must not forget that Estonia are a good side, as indeed Malta are. We want to confirm ourselves in terms of performance,” the head coach assures, “despite a few too many niggles, which we will make up for with the replacements. After all, the number of key players in our squad is limited and the enforced change of two central defenders – as will happen tomorrow – can create that little problem. That said,” the coach concludes, “we will face Malta with the intention of doing well and going in search of a result that is within our reach. In the three games I’ve been able to follow from the bench, we have come close: we need to work on our approach. Paradoxically we have produced excellent second halves, but struggled at the start. We will go back over this issue, which in my view is more of a mental block than a physical one." ©FSGC Back available again, after serving a one-match suspension in the opener, is Dante Rossi. The centre-back will look to inject energy and drive into his team-mates, all of whom are fully aware of the opportunities this competition offers. "The UEFA Nations League is always eagerly awaited by San Marino, as is tomorrow’s match against Malta. We have the chance to play against national teams that are a bit closer to our level. We definitely want to do well," Rossi guarantees, "but we also feel ready to chase a result, as happened two years ago against Liechtenstein and Gibraltar. We are very keen to bring onto the pitch what we have worked on in training with the coach. In these three games we have done very well, the group is excellent, with many young players. We want to represent our country in the best possible way, aware that in the Nations League getting a positive result is not a pipe dream." The same can of course be said for Malta. Enrico Pepe, formerly of Salernitana and Paganese, stresses how Malta have prepared for the match in the best possible way: "We took plenty of positives from the game against Venezuela; tomorrow we will make our Nations League debut against a team that have shown they are in good shape and improving a lot, like San Marino. We are not expecting an easier game than others; we will have to approach it with maximum concentration." The head coach is Italian, Devis Mangia, who shares a broader reflection on the competition: "The Nations League enables us to face teams whose values and qualities are closer to our own, and this certainly allows some characteristics to develop more quickly which, inevitably, would struggle to emerge in the European Qualifiers, where the criteria for forming the groups always put us up against extremely difficult matches." Kick-off is scheduled for 15:00 at the San Marino Stadium with Azerbaijani referee Aliyar Aghayev in charge, while a Spanish duo will oversee VAR. The match between San Marino and Malta will be shown in delayed coverage on San Marino RTV Sport (ch. 93 DTT) from 21:00 tomorrow, Sunday 5 June 2022. Costantini has named 23 players in his squad for tomorrow’s clash. Compared with the trip to Estonia, Fabbri and Manuel Battistini are out, replaced by Ceccaroli and Rossi.

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