Third edition of Goalkeepers' Battle launched

gkeepers-battle2013-launchThe second edition of the Givova Goalkeeper Battle was launched during a press conference which was held on Thursday at the Puma outlet, Paola. This year’s edition will be held on Saturday 25th May and Sunday 26th May at the Infetti Football Ground, Birkirkara.

Hibernians goalkeeper Mario Muscat, who is one of the organisers, said that this third edition will be on a bigger scale. He said that last year, eight Premier League goalkeepers, four from the First Division, five from the Second Division and six from the Third Division and an Italian goalkeeper from Brescia took part in the senior’s event.

The winners in the various categories were: Under-9 Kalvin Magri (Sliema), Under-11 Alan Abdelrahnan (Sta. Lucia), Under-13 Mario Bartolo (Hibernians), Under-15 Tyrane Gauci (Floriana), Under-17 Slaven Micallef (Naxxar), Under-19 Roberto Vella (Luxol), Seniors Justin Spiteri (Naxxar).

Muscat revealed that four foreign goalkeepers – two Italians, a Portuguese and an English goalkeeper have already confirmed their participation.

The competition will be held once again over two days. The first phase, which will be held on Saturday, will be the group stage played on a league basis with the winner and runner-up in each group moving on to the Knock-Out stage which will be played on Sunday. The challenge consists of games with one goalkeeper against another. The time for each game will be four minutes – two minutes each half.

In the group stage, there will be eight groups of four goalkeepers with each goalkeeper playing a minimun of three games.

Simon Grech said that challenge is divided into eight categories – Under-9, Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19, Seniors and Girls. The Seniors category is open to all goalkeepers from the Premier League, First, Second and Third Division, Futsal and Gozo.

Application forms may be obtained from the San Gwann Ground on Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays in the afternoon and Sunday morning, from all Puma/Tuttosport/Givova outlets in Valletta, Paola, Hamrun, Mosta and Cospicua and Di Milano in Paola. Application forms are also available from clubs and nurseries. The closing date is the 12th May. Draws will then be held on the 18th May.

All participants will be presented with a full Givova kit and at the end will be presented with a commemorative watch. The trophies for the winners are being provided thanks to Malta Glass Creations.

The event will kick-off on Saturday 25th with the national anthem sung by Enzo Guzman, a speech by the chairman of the Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport and the first games will kick-off at 18:00. On Sunday morning, the second phase kicks-off at 10:00 with the presentation being held at 12:00. First aid will be provided by St. John’s Ambulance.

The organisers thanked the sponsors, namely Givova, Birkirkara Local Council, Melita Restaurant, Numero Uno Gloves, Sound System, Luciano’s Meat Market, Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport, Malta Glass Creations, H2Only, Farsons – Gatorade, Dove, Karl Borg Events and StephenGatt.com.