Malta 'over the moon' as Bulgaria count costs

• Clayton Failla hails "great result" after Malta's 1-1 draw in Bulgaria
• Goalscorer notes improvement after 6-0 loss in Sofia last year
• Midfielder Rowen Muscat left "over the moon"
• Bulgaria's Svetoslav Dyakov laments "a disastrous result"
• Next games: Bulgaria v Italy, Azerbaijan v Malta (28 March)

Clayton Failla, Malta forward
We are absolutely delighted with the result and the performance. We gave our best and I think we deserved the point. This is really a great result for us. This is my second goal for the team and obviously this is the best moment I've had in the national team. I'm really proud of that as the goal earned us a point at a very tough venue. We lost here 6-0 last time around, but this time it was different. We were solid at the back. We played with three central defenders and our tactic was to wait for openings and hit them on the counterattack. This point will be a real boost for us.

André Agius, Malta defender
We're extremely delighted with the point and performance. It's always tough to come here as we lost 6-0 last year. We were totally focused and approached the game in the right way mentally. Our idea was to stay solid at the back and that's why we played with three centre-backs. We knew we could get a chance on the counter. Of course, Bulgaria had their chances, but we fought bravely and I think we deserved the point. This is one of the greatest results ever for us and everyone is proud.

Paul Fenech, Malta midfielder
It was a game which we had to get something out of, not just a good performance. We went out very well organised and very disciplined. From the very first attack, we produced – so we believed we could attack our opponents more. Despite the early setback of conceding, we came back in the second half, convinced we could get back on level terms with determination.

This is a result which will stay in our memories like our away win against Armenia last year. We have to keep out feet on the ground after this positive result and keep on growing in a positive manner.

Rowen Muscat, Malta midfielder
I'm very happy, over the moon with this result. We have been working toward this for a long time. I'm feeling a bit guilty about the penalty I conceded, but luckily enough it wasn't scored by [Ivelin] Popov. Today I realised how, like I've always said, it's very important to stay focused throughout the entire 90 minutes.

Pietro Ghedin, Malta coach
This is a fantastic result for us. I'm very proud of our performance. I want to congratulate them from the bottom of my heart for the excellent result. I am delighted with the improvement of the team from game to game and I think we are moving in the right direction. I would like to thank the players from the Under-21 side who played in this game and showed great character.

Svetoslav Dyakov, Bulgaria midfielder
This is disastrous result for us. It's a tough pill to swallow. There's nothing we can say in our defence. We can't talk about reaching the UEFA EURO 2016 play-offs after a performance like that. We need to recover immediately. We've dropped two points in a game we should have won.

Andrej Galabinov, Bulgaria forward
This draw is a like a defeat for us. I cannot be happy with my goal as we dropped two points. We created so many chances, but for their goal it was like we were under a spell or bewitched. That's football, though.

Luboslav Penev, Bulgaria coach
It's very hard for me to believe we did not win this game. I think we were the better team; we controlled the game but unfortunately dropped two points. We created many chances, hit the woodwork twice, missed a penalty and at the end we still didn't win. In our previous game [a 2-1 loss to Norway], we also created chances but we failed to convert them – and when you don't score goals, you don't win. We have to admit that we lack a killer instinct. I have never seen Ivelin Popov take a penalty like that, but we are all to blame for the lost points. After this game, I can say that there will be a lot of changes in all areas of the team.