Malta’s under-21 national team was drawn in qualifying Group Two of the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championships which will be hosted in Israel.
Malta were drawn against Sweden, Ukraine, Finland, Slovenia, and Lithuania. Two of the five countries in this group, namely Slovenia and Ukraine, already took part with Malta in the last qualifying group 8 of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
With Israel automatically qualifying for the finals in June 2013 as hosts, the
remaining 52 teams were drawn into ten groups, eight with five sides and two with six, with the nations allocated to five draw pots in accordance with their coefficient ranking.
Group stage matches will be played according to a standard, home and away, league system, kicking off on 25 March this year and ending with the final matches on 10 September 2012. The ten group winners and four best runners-up will move on to the following month’s play-offs, with the winners of those seven two-legged ties joining Israel in the final tournament.
The Group fixtures were agreed yesterday during a three-hour meeting between teams’ representatives at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon.
Malta will play away against Finland and Lithuania in June but then host Slovenia and Finland in September, Ukraine and Lithuania in October and Sweden in November this year. The other three matches will be played in June and September of next year.
Qualifying group stage draw
Group 1: Germany, Belarus, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino
Group 2: Sweden, Ukraine, Finland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta
Group 3: Czech Republic, Wales, Armenia, Montenegro, Andorra
Group 4: Serbia, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Faroe Islands
Group 5: Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Georgia, Estonia
Group 6: Russia, Portugal, Moldova, Poland, Albania
Group 7: Italy, Turkey, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Liechtenstein
Group 8: England, Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Azerbaijan
Group 9: Romania, France, Slovakia, Latvia, Kazakhstan
Group 10: Netherlands, Austria, Scotland, Bulgaria, Luxembourg
Friendly against Catania Calcio U/19
Meanwile it was announced yetserday that the Malta Under 21 national team will play a friendly against the Catania Calcio Under 19 team. The match will be held at the Stadio Comunale di Pedara (CT) next Wednesday Wednesday at 3.30pm.
The delegation will leave Malta on Tuesday evening and will return to Malta on Thursday.
The final list of players will be announced on Monday morning.