Malta draw thrills all but Fitzel

Malta coach Dušan Fitzel told uefa.com he felt his side "could have won" as they earned a sensational 2-2 draw at home against Turkey in a Group C qualifier.

Brave performance
The islanders led twice through defender Brian Said and Andre Schembri but were pegged back by Fatih Terim's side. It was a sensational result but one their ambitious Czech coach thought could have been even better. "Before the match I told my players that if we scored first we would not lose," Fitzel told uefa.com. "I am not happy about the way we conceded both goals - the first just before half-time and then again within a minute of regaining the lead. I firmly believe that we could have won the match had luck been on our side."

Players overjoyed
With a national holiday having helped draw a bumper crowd to the National Stadium in Ta' Qali, Malta produced one of their best international performances to date to pick up their fifth Group C point, following a win against Hungary and a draw in Moldova. "I felt overjoyed as the final whistle blew," Schembri told uefa.com. "I knew we could even have won but that is football. I never like to judge myself on my personal performances - I prefer to leave others to do that - but it was another historic result for Malta."

Positive approach
Fitzel, who signed a new contract with the Malta Football Association last week to keep him in charge of the national team until the end of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, went into the game with a positive attitude. "I studied Turkey and their tactics from their recent matches and I knew from the start that they would play the way they did," he explained. "I urged my players to work as a team and do their best to make life difficult for them."

'Different story'
They certainly managed that, as Terim acknowledged, telling uefa.com: "I never thought Malta could score against us. We did not play well today. Two points dropped today means that we now have to win all our remaining matches if we are to qualify. I take responsibility for this result. We lost some important players through injury during the match and this affected our performance. I have no doubt that if we had scored first it would have been a different story."

'Heroic achievment'