Players 'yellow-carded' for shunning Mallorca friendly - Held

Lokomotiv Sofia midfielder Stefan Giglio and Michael Mifsud, of Kaiserslautern, were two surprising omissions from Sigfried Held's 20-man squad for the friendly against Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Held explained the two players have been left out as a disciplinary measure for refusing to travel with the group to Mallorca in December. Malta won a friendly in Spain 2-0.

"Every player has to be proud to play for his country. Given that Giglio and Mifsud had elected to skip the Mallorca trip, I have decided to give them a 'yellow card' and dropped them from the squad," Held said.

Striker Daniel Bogdanovic is also in the squad despite doubts surrounding his whereabouts after his reported move from Valletta FC to Bulgarians Chernomore Varna during the January transfer window.

The Malta FA has not issued an international clearance for Bogdanovic to complete his transfer after the player failed to sign the relevant release forms to terminate his previous contract with Valletta.

Ronnie Attard, the national teams' co-ordinator, said he had managed to communicate with Bogdanovic by fax. He said all flight details have already been sent to the 22-year-old striker in Turkey where he is doing a training camp with ChernoMore.

Attard added he had not spoken to Bogdanovic over the phone but he is hopeful that the player will arrive in time on Monday.

Simon Vella, who plies his trade for Airdrie United in the Scottish Division Two, has also been recalled to the squad. Held said he had also invited Ryan Baldacchino, on the books of Carlisle, to join his squad but the player has yet to acquire a Maltese passport.

Wednesday's match forms part of the national team's preparations for the EURO 2004 away qualifier against France on March 29.

Held's squad

Goalkeepers: S. Darmanin (Pietà); M. Muscat (Hibs).

Defenders: J. Chetcuti, I. Ciantar, C. Mamo, B. Said (all Sliema); D. Debono (Valletta); L. Dimech (Birkirkara); S. Vella (Airdrie Utd).

Midfielders: J. Brincat, D. Camilleri, N. Turner (all Sliema); W. Camenzuli, G. Mallia (both Birkir-kara); D. Carabott (Valletta); J. Holland (Floriana).

Forwards: D. Bogdanovic (Valletta); A. Mifsud, M. Mifsud (Hibernians); C. Nwoko (Birkirkara).

Mark Miller's U-21 Squad

Malta's U-21 team will play Kazakhstan at the Hibs Ground on Tuesday (kick-off 3 p.m.).

Goalkeepers: K. Calleja (Lija); J. Haber (Birkirkara).

Defenders: J. Agius (Valletta); E. Barbara, K. Farrugia (both Marsa-xlokk); C. Ciantar (Floriana); L. Lombardi (Pietà).

Midfielders: I. Azzopardi, S. Bajada, T. Cilia (all Floriana); J. Bondin (Valletta); R. Briffa (Birkirkara); M. Brincat (Hamrun Spartans); K. Sammut (Sliema); G. Sciberras (Pietà).

Forwards: N. Baldacchino, C. Cassar, J.P. Mifsud Triganza (all Floriana); A. Zahra (Hibs).