Manuela Tesse names squad ahead of Italy friendly

Malta women’s national team coach Manuela Tesse has named a squad of 23 players ahead of the international friendly match away to Italy, scheduled for Friday, 25th October. The match will take place at the Stadio Tre Fontane in Rome, kicking off at 18:15hrs.

With Malta having wrapped up their UEFA Women’s Group B3 Qualifiers with commendable performances in away matches against Northern Ireland and Portugal in July, the friendly against Women’s EURO 2025 finalists Italy is an enticing opportunity for the Malta players to test themselves against top-tier opposition.

Tesse will no doubt be using this international window to prepare the team for their next competition, the UEFA Women’s Nations League commencing in February, while eyeing a positive performance against Italy in keeping with the progress shown by the team.

Her squad selection is a blend of experienced and young players, albeit a number of key players are sidelined with injuries. These include Birkirkara FC goalkeeper Janice Xuereb who is recovering from ACL surgery, and team-mate Stephania Farrugia who has been out since September with a similar injury while Ann-Marie Said, of Mġarr United, and Swieqi United’s Jade Flask have also been dealing with injury-related issues lately.

Experienced midfielder Rachel Cuschieri misses out, having recently returned to the fray with her new club Genoa.

On a more positive note, Tesse has awarded Mġarr United defender Abigail Camilleri her first senior call-up.

THE SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS                                             

Raisa Costantino (ASD Gelbison Vallo D. Lucania, Italy), Giulia D’ Antuono (Mġarr United FC), Patricia Ebejer (Mġarr United FC)

DEFENDERS                                                     

Abigail Camilleri (Mġarr United FC), Mariah Cardona (Birkirkara FC), Leanne Cefai (Mġarr United), Alexandra Gatt (Durham Cestria FC, England), Emma Lipman (Genoa, Italy), Valentina Rapa (Birkirkara FC), Emma Xuereb (Swieqi United), Charlene Zammit (Birkirkara FC) .

MIDFIELDERS                                              

Brenda Borg (Mġarr United FC), Veronique Mifsud (Mġarr United), Nicole Sciberras (Hibernians FC), Gabriella Zahra (Birkirkara FC), Shona Zammit (Swieqi United FC).

FORWARDS                                     

Haley Bugeja (Inter Milan, Italy), Yulya Carella (Mġarr United), Ylenia Carabott (AFC Fylde, England), Alishia Cassar (Birkirkara FC), Lexine Farrugia (AS Roma, Italy), Maria Farrugia (Sheffield United FC, England), Kailey Willis (Venezia Calcio, Italy)