The Malta Football Association announced the appointments of Mario Capece and Francesco Zanasi, both from Italy, as part of the national senior team’s coaching staff.

Capece, 49, joins Devis Mangia’s team as Goalkeeper Coach while 28-year-old Zanasi has taken up the position of Fitness Coach. They join Davide Mazzotta and Gulliermo Giacomazzi – Mangia’s Assistant Coaches, and Fitness Coach Luca Pagani.

Capece brings a wealth of experience, having worked as Goalkeeper Coach at several Italian clubs at Serie B and Lega Pro level and also had spells in Albania, with FK Partizani, and Universitatea Craiova in Romania. He has also worked for the AC Milan Academy in Syndey, Australia.

For his part, Zanasi has worked for clubs in Italy, Latvia and Romania. He is also a Sports Scientist with leading football-intelligence company Iterpro, the official technical partners of the Malta Football Association.

Mangia and his coaching team are currently overseeing the return-to-activity programme for the senior national squad as part of the preparations for Malta’s UEFA Nations League campaign, kicking off in September. The training sessions started last Sunday.