Malta’s national squad will be travelling to Austria today to start its final preparations for Friday’s friendly encounter with Austria, who will be hosting the Euro 2008 tournament, together with Switzerland, starting next week.

National coach Dusan Fitzel has called a squad of 18 players for this match which will enable him to assess the progress of his side, especially after the 7-1 defeat of Liechtenstein two months ago.

Fitzel has included Hibernians’ young defender Jonathan Caruana and Hamrun’s promising midfielder Ryan Fenech in the squad, which will be captained by Valletta’s Gilbert Agius.

It is the following:

Goalkeepers: Justin Haber (Haidari, Greece), Andrew Hogg (Valletta).

Defenders: Brian Said (Sliema W.), Jonathan Caruana (Hibernians), Josef Mifsud (Valletta), Ian Azzopardi (Sliema W.), Roderick Briffa (Sliema W.), Luke Dimech (Macclesfield, England), Shawn Bajada (Birkirkara).

Midfielders: Jamie Pace (Marsaxlokk), Ryan Fenech (Hamrun), Cleaven Frendo (Marsaxlokk), George Mallia (Birkirkara), Gilbert Agius (Valletta), Udo Nwoko (Leixoes, Portugal),

Strikers: Etienne Barbara (Sliema W.), Michael Mifsud (Coventry, England),Andre Schembri(Eintracht Braunschweig, Germany).

The match is being played in the 30,000 capacity Sturm Stadium in Graz, around 100 kilometres south of Vienna.