National coach Pietro Ghedin named a twenty-man squad which will travel to Faro, Portugal for next Wednesday’s international friendly match against Gibraltar which will be played at the Estadio Algarve in Faro.
Apart from Gareth Sciberras who is unavailable due to work commitments, also missing is another Birkirkara player – Edward Herrera. Nicky Vella, Glenn Zammit, Steve Bezzina and Ishmael Grech were, on the other hand, dropped from the squad which will be travelling to Portugal.
Photo: Copyright © domenic aquilina
Steve Bezzina was included in the starting line-up for the last match for Malta – a friendly match against Albania in Durres.
The new faces in the squad are Floriana midfielder Steve Pisani and Hibernians striker Jean Paul Farrugia.
The players selected by Ghedin are:
goalkeepers Justin Haber (Birkirkara), Andrew Hogg (Kalloni);
defenders Andrei Agius (Aprilia), Steve Borg (Valletta), Ryan Camilleri (Hibs), Jonathan Caruana (Valletta), Clayton Failla (Hibs), Alex Muscat (Sliema);
midfielders Shaun Bajada (Valletta), Roderick Briffa (Valletta), Paul Fenech (Birkirkara), Ryan Fenech (Valletta), Bjorn Kristensen (Hibs), John Mintoff (Sliema), Rowen Muscat (Birkirkara), Steve Pisani (Floriana), Andre Schembri (FSV Frankfurt);
forwards Michael Mifsud (unattached), Jean Paul Farrugia (Hibs), Terence Vella (Birkirkara).
After this game, Malta will be playing a friendly match against Slovakia in September, a few days before taking on Croatia in the first EURO 2016 qualifier at the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb on September 9.