New national coach Dusan Fitzel’s baptism of fire has arrived. This afternoon his Malta side, though depleted by a number of absences, will be facing Moldova in the opening fixture of the Coca-Cola Multiplus international football tournament.

Georgia are the third team taking part, after Libya withdrew their participation a few days ago. Moldova and Georgia meet on Monday while Malta plays against Georgia next Wednesday.

Today’s match against Moldova gives Fitzel the chance to assess Moldova closely in the knowledge that they are also one of Malta’s opponents in the Euro 2008 qualifying Group.

Addressing the press last Wednesday, Fitzel made it clear that he will not be playing all his cards. “I am sure that even Moldova will not be performing with their best elements. They will not be showing us everything. And for this match, I will be making use of some of the newcomers – it is a good occasion to experiment with some of my choices,” he said.

Two players expected to return to the national side this afternoon after having been dropped by former coach Horst Heese are Hibernians goalie Mario Muscat and Birkirkara midfielder William Camenzuli.

Muscat will take the place of Justin Haber who will only be arriving tomorrow – together with Michael Mifsud and Luke Dimech – to join the national squad in preparation for Wednesday’s match against Georgia. The ‘foreigners’ have all been allowed to play for their clubs at the weekend. Fitzel said they will all be included in the match against Georgia on Wednesday.

Fitzel has five playere missing the tournament through injuries. They are goalie Reuben Gauci, defender Adrian Pulis and midfielders, Shaun Bajada, Jonathan Bondin and Claude Mattocks, even though the latter still has a 50-50 chance of playing Wednesday’s match against Georgia.

Despite the absences, Fitzel is not expected to field a completely inexperienced side and players like captain Gilbert Agius of Valletta, Sliema’s Brian Said and Ivan Woods, as well as Birkirkara’s George Mallia, and Roderick Briffa as well as Andrew Cohen of Hibs are all included in the squad.

Fitzel did not announce his starting line-up yesterday, but it seems evident that he will be giving a chance to the youngsters in what will probably be a 4-4-2 formation

The match kicks off at 3pm.

Fitzel has the following squad at his disposal for the tournament (today without the foreign-based players):

Goalkeepers: J. Haber, M. Muscat, B. Paris.

Defenders: I. Azzopardi, I. Ciantar, L. Dimech, P. Pullicino, B. Said, K. Scicluna, S. Wellman, A. Muscat.

Midfielders: W. Camenzuli, G. Agius, A. Agius, O. Anonam, R. Briffa, T. Cilia, G. Mallia, K. Sammut.

Strikers: E. Barbara, A. Cohen, M. Mifsud, I. Woods.