National coach Dusan Fitzel has named a 19-man squad for next Wednesday’s FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Hungary and Malta in Budapest.
Missing the match will be Luke Dimech and Jamie Pace who will be suspended following a second yellow card in the match against Denmark last Saturday.
Instead, Fitzel has named three players to join the remaining 16. These are Valletta defender Kenneth Scicluna, Hibernians flank midfielder Clayton Failla and Sliema W. striker Ivan Woods.
He has selected three players because Andre Schembri is nursing a slight injury after Saturday’s clash at Ta’ Qali and may still be declared unfit for the Budapest match.
Fitzel’s squad which made the trip to Hungary yesterday, is the following:
Goalkeepers: Andrew Hogg - Valletta FC; Justin Haber - Sheffield United
Defenders: Andrei Agius - Igea Virtus; Ian Azzopardi - Sliema Wanderers FC; Shaun Bajada - Birkirkara FC; Jonathan Caruana - Hibernians FC; Alex Muscat - Sliema Wanderers FC, Kenneth Scicluna – Valletta FC.
Midfielders: Gilbert Agius - Valletta FC; Roderick Briffa - Valletta FC; Andrew Cohen - Hibernians FC; Ryan Fenech - Hamrun Spartans; Jamie Pace - Valletta FC, Clayton Failla -Hibernians.
Strikers: Etienne Barbara - FC Verl; Daniel Bogdanovic - Barnsley FC; Michael Mifsud - Barnsley FC; Terence Scerri - Hibernians FC; Andre Schembri - Carl Zeiss Jena; Ivan Woods – Sliema W.
Speaking after Saturday’s clash, Fitzel said he thought his players feared the Danish side and only started playing after suffering the first goal. He did not want to comment about the referee’s control of the match, during which the Polish official failed to award Malta at least one penalty in the first half. Fitzel said a penalty is only a penalty when it is whistled by the referee. “It is useless to cry now after what happened,” he said.
The national coach said the Danes were strong but added “They were helped in their win by the lack of self confidence of the Malta players. I hope things will change in Hungary. I always expect a better result in a second game when we play two matches close to each other.”