Buttigieg names 18-man squad for German trip

National coach John Buttigieg named the 18-man squad which will leave Malta, destination Germany, on Tuesday where the national team will be playing the German national team in a friendly match at the Tivoli Stadion in Aachen on Thursday, kick-off at 18:00.

Hibernians goalkeeper Mario Muscat and Birkirkara midfielder Paul Fenech, who were part of the squad in the last game against Finland, were left out of the squad together with Floriana’s Christian Caruana and Valletta’s Kevin Sammut.

Valletta defender Steve Bezzina, who was included as a substitute in the last game, had earlier been dropped together with veterans Brian Said and Gilbert Agius, George Mallia and Terence Scerri.

Goalkeeper Andrew Hogg of Valletta and Hibs defender Edward Herrera are back while Qormi midfielder Massimo Grima makes his return after a long period of time.

Ferencvaros midfielder Andre Schembri and Maltese-Australian duo Manny Muscat and John Hutchinson are also absent from the squad.

Malta coach John Buttigieg said this game will be another important test for his side ahead of the EURO 2012 qualifiers.

When asked regarding particular players who were dropped from the squad, Buttigieg stressed that he named what he thought were the best players for this game.

The players selected by Buttigieg and his assistant Carmel Busuttil are:
goalkeepers Justin Haber (Ferencvaros), Andrew Hogg (Valletta);
defenders Edward Herrera (Hibs), Alex Muscat (Sliema), Clayton Failla (Sliema), Shaun Bajada (Birkirkara), Kenneth Scicluna (Valletta), Jonathan Caruana (Hibs), Andrei Agius (Melfi);
midfielders Massimo Grima (Qormi), Jamie Pace (Valletta), Ryan Fenech (Sliema), Trevor Cilia (Birkirkara), Roderick Briffa (Valletta), Ivan Woods (Sliema);
forwards Michael Mifsud (Valletta), Daniel Bogdanovic (Barnsley), Andrew Cohen (Hibs).

The game at the Tivoli Stadion will be controlled by officials from Luxembourg, namely referee Alain Hamer, assistant referees Francois Mangen and Christian Holtgen and fourth official Markus Wingenbach.

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