The Football Federation of Albania announced that it will be hosting Malta in a friendly match on Wednesday March 5.

In a short statement, the Albanian FA said that this game will be an important test for the team led by Italian coach Gianni De Biasi as this will provide him with the opportunity of trying new players ahead of the EURO 2016 qualifiers.

For Malta, this is also a very important test ahead of these qualifiers – the draws for which will be held on February 23.

Since the last friendly match against the Faroe Islands in November, the national team training scheme has been scrapped as the MFA agreed to give much more space to clubs’ requirements and now the national team squad will be called just a few days before an international fixture.

For this reason, no Premier League matches will be played on March 1 and 2 but matches will be anticipated to Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 February.

Malta and Albania met seven times – with only the latter two being from the World Cup qualifiers. In the three games played in Tirana, Malta lost with an identical 3-0 score in November 2000, August 2007 and September 2008. In the last clash between the two countries, the two teams shared the spoils in a goalless draw at Ta’ Qali in February 2009.

Photo: Copyright © Paul Zammit Cutajar