Thirty one national team players forming part of Pietro Ghedin’s provisional squad have been called to resume training at the Ta’ Qali training grounds from next Tuesday and Wednesday.
After the Christmas and New Year festivities our national teams will be back in action, either engaged in training schedules or in playing friendly matches.
This will be in preparation for the home friendly against Northern Ireland on 6 February which would be the last outing for the national team prior to its 2014 FIFA World Cup Group B away match against Bulgaria on 22March to be followed by the home match in the same competition against Italy on 26 March.
The Under 21 will face Austria at the Hibernians Stadium for an international friendly match on 6 February and on 15 January, Ray Farrugia will have an initial assessment of the new squad against an Italian team, ASD Vigor Mellis- Roma.
The women’s national team will also be in action against Cyprus in a friendly encounter on 12 January. This match is another one in a series of preparation matches for the women’s team in view of their competitive commitments in April when they face Albania, Luxembourg and Latvia in the UEFA Women' s Preliminary Round matches.
The Futsal national team, under coach Kevin Mifsud, will in turn be meeting England today in the 3rd International Friendly Futsal tournament, a quadrangular event at the Hibernians Sports Pavilion.
Malta’s next matches will be against Georgia tomorrow and Greece on Wednesday.
The Futsal national team will once again be in action at the end of January in the UEFA Futsal competition. Malta will be hosting the event, a group which also includes Georgia and Moldova.
The current squad
(without players abroad)
GOALKEEPERS: Henry Bonello (Sliema W.), Reuben Gauci (Birkirkara), Justin Haber (Mosta FC), Nicholas Vella (Tarxien R.)
DEFENDERS: Jacob Borg (Balzan), Steve Borg (Valletta), Ryan Camilleri (Hibernians), Jonathan Caruana (Valletta), Alexander Cini (Mosta), Luke Dimech (Valletta), Clayton Failla (Hibernians), Clifford Gatt Baldacchino (Sliema), Justin Grioli (Tarxien R.), Alex Muscat (Sliema), Joseph Zerafa (Birkirkara).
MIDFIELDERS: Ayrston Azzopardi (Hibernians), Shawn Bajada (Valletta), Roderick Briffa (Valletta), Paul Fenech (Birkirkara), Ryan Fenech (Valletta), Edward Herrera (Birkirkara), Bjorn Kristensen (Hibernians), Shawn Magro (Msida SJ), John Mintoff (Sliema), Rowen Muscat (Birkirkara), Gareth Sciberras (Birkirkara).
STRIKERS: Daniel Bogdanovic (Mosta), Andrew Cohen (Hibernians), Julian Galea (Melita), Michael Mifsud (Valletta), Terence Vella (Hamrun S.).