Futsal: Valletta off to Finland for UEFA Futsal Cup commitments

UEFA-Futsal-CupValletta will be showing a positive attitude to gain respect from their opponents in their debut in the UEFA Futsal Cup when they take on Georgian champions Tbilisi State University, Scottish side Wattcell Futsal Club and Finnish hosts FC Sievi.

The Citizens were drawn in the Preliminary Round Group F and matches will be played at the Sievi Sports Complex between August 16 and 21.

In a statement, the club said the players, led by their coach Clayton Felice, will be flying to Finland in the early hours of Monday after four weeks of hard training in the summer pre-season.

During a press conference held at the Valletta FC premises, Felice said that he focused mostly on the physical aspect of the players.

“We know that we are facing a difficult task in this preliminary round group. Hosts Sievi have improved a lot during these years and they will be a hard nut to crack. We are also aware of the strength of Tbilisi State University and we are hoping to achieve a good result against Scottish champions Watcell who are considered to be at our same level.”

On the other hand, for captain Xavier Saliba this will be his third personal participation in such competition and his third time playing in Finland.
Saliba envisaged the professional approach of the team – that of aiming for points and above all to receive respect from the opponents.

Valletta start their group matches against Sievi Futsal on Wednesday and play Tbilisi State University 24 hours later. The final match, against Watcell Futsal Club, will be played next Saturday.

The Lilywhites bolstered their already strong squad this summer as they acquired the services of Gary Inguanez and Chris Cardona and two high-profile players such as Endrit Kaca and Vanderlei Augusto.

The Valletta squad is made up of Neil Cuschieri, Gaetano Mallia, Melvin Borg, Joseph Borg, Chris Cardona, Gary Inguanez, Dylan Musu, Jovica Milijic, Xavier Saliba, Cristian Cuadros Silva, Mohammed Elamari, Denis Di Maio, Endrit Kaca, Vanderlei Augusto.