National coach John Buttigieg will only be naming his squad to travel to Croatia for next Wednesday’s European Championship qualifier in Zagreb at the weekend.
With a good number of matches being played between today and Sunday, some players, with the exception of the inactive Valletta and Birkirkara, will be in action.
Therefore, he will have to see whether all the players in his squad of 25 will come out unscathed following the FA Trophy matches.
What is certain is that the coach will have to do without central defender Andrei Agius and midfielder Andrew Cohen – they are both suspended for this match.
Addressing the press yesterday, Buttigieg said that like all the other matches, this game will be difficult, perhaps even more than usual because the opponents are one of the favourites to qualify from our group.
The coach added that it had been very difficult to prepare the players for this match, mostly due to the congestion of fixtures after the several changes which had to be made in the Premier League. “Because of all those midweek matches, not all players could attend training regularly with the national squad although I can confirm that Michael Mifsud, though still without a club, has not missed one session,” said the coach.
Buttigieg, however, said that he is confident that his boys will rise to the occasion and offer decent opposition. “In our recent matches, we had a lot of positives even if the results failed to arrive. And that is what is important in football. However, against Latvia we created a lot and against Georgia, we even had a great chance to score a goal near the end before the Georgians scraped through with a last-gasp goal,” he said.
Buttigieg said that until yesterday, all players, with the exception of Birkirkara’s Trevor Cilia, were fit. Even in Cilia’s case, Buttigieg will be waiting till the very end because there is the possibility that the player could be declared fit to form part of the squad.
Asked who will be replacing the suspended Agius in the heart of the defence, Buttigieg did not appear too worried. He said that there are others in the squad who can cover that role well.
Otherwise, there are no surprises in the provisional squad of 23 players with runaway league leaders Valletta contributing five players – Andrew Hogg, Jonathan Caruana, Roderick Briffa, Jamie Pace and Kevin Sammut.
The provisional squad is the following:
Goalkeepers: Anthony Curmi (Tarxien R.), J. Haber (Ferencvaros, Hungary), Andrew Hogg, (Valletta), Mario Muscat (Hibernians).
Defenders: Shaun Bajada (Birkirkara), Jonathan Caruana (Valletta), Edward Herrera (Hibernians), Carlo Mamo (Marsaxlokk), Joseph Zerafa (Birkirkara).
Midfielders: Roderick Briffa (Valletta), Trevor Cilia and Paul Fenech (Birkirkara), Ryan Fenech and Massimo Grima (Hamrun S.), John Hutchinson (Central Coast Mariners, Australia), Jamie Pace and Kevin Sammut (Valletta), Gareth Sciberras (Marsaxlokk).
Strikers: Daniel Bogdanovic (Sheffield U., England), Christian Caruana (Floriana), Michael Mifsud (no club), Andre Schembri (Ferencvaros, Hungary), Ivan Woods (Floriana).
Under 21 squad for Cyprus match
National U-21 coach Edwin Camilleri has selected the following squad for next Wednesday’s international friendly match against Cyprus in Nicosia.
Goalkeepers: Daniel Balzan (Hibernians), Steve Sultana (Nadur Y.).
Defenders: Owen Bugeja (Floriana), William Camilleri (Luxol St Andrews), Cleaven Cassar (Pieta H.), Kane Farrugia (Mosta), Andrew Scicluna (Mqabba), Luke Micallef (Melita), Jonathan Xerri (Vittoriosa S.).
Midfielders: Tristan Caruana (Hibernians), Miguel Ciantar (Sliema W.), Dylon Grima (Balzan Y.), Matthew Gauci (Hibernians), Sheldon Grech (Pieta H.), Luke Martinelli (Melita), Mark Scerri (Sliema W.).
Strikers: Mauro Grioli (Mqabba), Lydon Micallef (Mosta), Rowen Muscat and Terence Vella (Birkirkara).