Following a 1-1 draw in Kaunas against Lithuania on Thursday, Malta hosts San Marino in a friendly match at the National Stadium on Tuesday, kick-off at 21:00.

A match which will give coach Emilio De Leo the possibility to try new players and possibly new tactics ahead of the remaining commitments from Group G of the European Qualifiers where Malta will be hosting the Netherlands in October, facing Finland away from home and hosting Poland in November. Another friendly match is scheduled against Bosnia and Herzegovina at home in October.

Photos courtesy of Malta FA

Addressing the media on Monday, De Leo said “I expect to continue to build on what we did in Lithuania. What I’m trying to say is that every match should teach us something. We must move forward consistently, with as much professionalism as we have been doing. There will certainly be incidents that I hope will start to turn in our favour, because it is obvious that it would have been nice to return to Malta from the match against Lithuania with three points. However, I think we returned with a lot of positivity and with the awareness of being a good team that is growing, that is doing well … that will always face obstacles and difficulties. We have the structure, the strength … we are building an identity that should allow us to always be able to react when difficulties arise.”

Malta was just minutes away from beating Lithuania in Kaunas but a 96th minute penalty enabled the hosts to earn a point from the game. 

“The fact that we failed to bring home the victory shouldn’t discourage us but should make us understand that we are a team that is working well, that can achieve maximum results both at home and away. Where we can’t achieve maximum results, we must draw from a positive experience. Tomorrow, I expect great focus, intense concentration, and a greater awareness of our own abilities. We need to be consistent, balanced, not only technically and tactically, but also emotionally. We should not care whether it’s an official match or a friendly, but rather what each of us can do… that we can do better, first and foremost starting from myself by always putting my face forward and take responsibility, to the more experienced players, but also to the many young players we’re adding to our team. I expect them to show their personality, as they are doing… demonstrating a great commitment to this technical project,” added De Leo.

Against San Marino, Malta will be lacking once again a number of players. Matthew Guillaumier will be back after skipping the Lithuania game due to suspension but apart from James Carragher and Teddy Teuma who had to be left out of the squad due to injuries, Ryan Camenzuli, Jake Brimmer and Jodi Jones were dropped during the weekend as they are all recovering from injuries while Jake Azzopardi and Keyon Ewurum joined the Under-21 squad for Tuesday’s game against Greece. 

Emilio De Leo stressed that despite the absences in Kaunas, the players who played did an excellent job. 

“As for the players who are missing, we’ve never been too worried about that. Even in the match against Lithuania, where we had some problems, the players who started had the right attitude and played with great concentration. I’m referring to Cardona, Paiber, and Beerman, as well as Grech, who returned after a while. They did very well, and I think we’ll be calm from that point of view tomorrow too.”

The squad is therefore made up of:

goalkeepers Henry Bonello (Ħamrun Spartans FC), Rashed Al Tumi (Sliema Wanderers FC), James Sissons (Chesterfield FC – ENG).

defenders Zach Muscat (Chaves FC – POR), Juan Carlos Corbalan (Marsaxlokk FC), Kurt Shaw (Sorrento FC – ITA), Enrico Pepe (Marsaxlokk FC), Jean Borg (Sliema Wanderers FC), Gabriel Mentz (Gżira United FC), Kean Scicluna (Żabbar St Patrick FC), Myles Beerman (Sliema Wanderers FC).

midfielders Brandon Diego Paiber (Valletta FC), Alexander Satariano (Athens Kallithea FC – GRE), Jake Grech (Floriana FC), Yannick Yankam (Valletta FC), Adam Magri Overend (Sliema Wanderers FC).

forwards Joseph E. Mbong (Ħamrun Spartans FC), Paul Mbong (FK Čukarički – SRB), Ilyas Chouaref (Sion FC – SUI), Irvin Cardona (AS Saint-Étienne – FRA), Kyrian Nwoko (Sliema Wanderers FC), Kemar Reid (Birkirkara FC).

Meanwhile Irvin Cardona, who made his debut in the game against Lithuania expressed his joy and pride after making his first appearance for the national team, adding that this was hopefully the first of a long series of matches for him with the national team. 

This will be the fourth clash between Malta and San Marino. Malta had defeated San Marino 3-2  in a friendly match away from home in August 2012 and in June 2022, the two teams met twice in the UEFA Nations League with Malta winning 2-0 in Serravalle and 1-0 at Ta’ Qali.

However, since then, San Marino managed to secure a historic promotion to League C of the UEFA Nations League after winning their group last year thanks to two wins over Liechtenstein and a draw with Gibraltar. Malta, on the other hand, finished their group commitments in the runner-up spot behind Moldova and now await the play-offs against Luxembourg in March. 

San Marino are currently playing in Group H of the European Qualifiers and lost their first five matches, losing at home to Romania, Austria and Bosnia Herzegovina and to Cyprus and Bosnia Herzegovina away from home.

Coach Roberto Cevoli has a twenty-six man squad at his disposal, which includes Gzira United goalkeeper Edoardo Colombo. 

Twelve of the players in the squad play for Pietracuta – a club in the Italian Eccelenza Emilia-Romagna – the fifth tier in Italian football, which is also led by the San Marino coach.

The squad is made up of:

goalkeepers Pietro Amici (Pietracuta), Edoardo Colombo (Gzira), Matteo Zavoli (La Fiorita);

defenders Michele Cevoli (Pietracuta), Filippo Fabbri (San Marino Calcio), Giacomo Matteoni (Pietracuta), Marco Pasolini (Pietracuta), Alberto Riccardi (Imolese), Dante Carlos Rossi (Tropical Coriano), Alessandro Tosi (San Marino Calcio), Giacomo Valentini (Pietracuta);

midfielders Lorenzo Capicchioni (Pietracuta), Andrea Contadini (Pietracuta), Alessandro Golinucci (Virtu), Cristian Meloni (San Marino Academy), Marcello Mularoni (Cosmos), Matteo Valli Casadei (Pietracuta), Samuele Zannoni (Pietracuta);

Forwards Filippo Berardi (Tre Penne), Gabroel Capicchioni (Virtus), Nicolas Giacopetti (Pietracuta), Nicola Nanni (Arzignano Valchiampo), Fausto Marino Salicioni (Virtus Entella), Nicko Sensoli (Pietracuta), Matteo Vitalioli (La Fiorita).