Valletta FC will be meeting FC Buducnost of Serbia & Montenegro this afternoon at the Hibs Ground at Corradino in the first leg of their tie.

The second leg is to be played in Podgorica next week with the winner facing the prospect of a ‘lucrative’ tie with Spanish top side Deportivo La Coruna in the second round.

This is enough motivation for both sides to provide local enthusiasts with an entertaining match this afternoon and next week where one will expect the two sides to try and their best achieve a place in the next round.

Of course, our support goes to the citizens who, despite having finished without any silverware for a second year running, are still considered to be one of the top clubs in Malta.

After the famous 1990s, the City side is passing through a bleak period at present, although the past season, they challenged Sliema for the title till the last few matches, where they missed the bus and even a place in the UEFA Cup and just making it to this participation in the Intertoto Cup.

Coach JJ Aquilina will be making use of all the players at his disposal last season and these will include central defender Massimo Grima who, after these matches, will again be the property of Sliema Wanderers unless a new loan deal is signed between both clubs.

Valletta will obviously rely on the experience of players like goalie Sean Sullivan, Gilbert Agius, Branco Nisevic, Mark Galea, Milen Penchev and Rene Forace not to mention a youngster like Jonathan Bondin who has been boosted considerably with his recent call-up to the national team.

Little is known of Buducnost who, have little experience in these European club competitions. They have made just one appearance in the UEFA Cup where they played four matches.

Yet, in their last three league matches in the Serbian league, they registered two wins and a defeat. One of the victories was away to former European champions Red Star Belgrade 1-2. The other was a 1-0 win over OFK Belgrade, while they lost 2-1 to Vojvodina. Buducnost finished sixth in the league with 41 points.

The match this afternoon kick off at 6pm. Admission charges are Lm3 for adults and Lm2 for children.

Maltese referee Zammit for Albania

FIFA referee Anton Zammit has been appointed to control the first round first leg Intertoto Cup match between KS Dinamo Tirana and NK Varteks of Croatia to be played in Tirana today.

The assistant referees will be Charles Micallef and Alan Camilleri.