Sliema Wanderers will be facing Msida St Joseph today (kick off 6pm) at the National Stadium, ta’ Qali, in the second semi-final of the competition.
On Friday evening, Hibernians became the first finalists when they beat Valletta 2-1 in the first semi-final. They will obviously face the winners of today’s clash in the final to be played next Friday.
While Sliema are already assured of a place in the UEFA Cup next season, Msida, like Hibernians, have to win the competition if they wish to play European football next season. IF one of them had to win the final, they would be Malta’s second representative in the UEFA Cup and Birkirkara will have to play in the Intertoto Cup next month.
But if Sliema W. win the Trophy, everything changes. Sliema go to the UEFA Cup as Trophy winners, the second representative for Malta will be Birkirkara as third placed in the league and Valletta will go into the Intertoto Cup as the fourth placed team in the league.
Moreover, Sliema must be considered favourites to add another Trophy victory to their impressive list – a victory will be a record 20th in the competition.
The Blues, under the charge of Ray ‘Zazu’ Farrugia, had to content themselves with the runners-up place in the league and Zazu is still looking eagerly towards his first major trophy in local football.
This is, perhaps, his best chance to claim his first major prize, but his team must expect a very strong challenge from an Msida team which showed a lot of improvement in their last encounter when they drew 2-2 with Valletta.
The Saints almost made it two years ago when they suffered a minimal 2-1 defeat against Birkirkara in the final. This time, they hope to go one better, but they must be aware of the difficult task facing them.
There is no doubt that Sliema possess the better talent, but as regards fighting spirit, it is evident that Msida are second to none, and possibly have something better than the Wanderers to offer from this aspect.
Both sides are expected to field their best formations this afternoon with Msida relying heavily on the talents of their two Nigerian strikers Ibrahim Babatunde and Daniel Nwoke as well as midfielder Zongo to try and surprise the more experienced Blues.