Portugal U-21 friendly called off
A Malta FA spokesman yesterday told The Times that next month's proposed U-21 friendly between Malta and Portugal will not be played after the UEFA Championship finalists had expressed their intentions to call off the match because of a heavy...
A Malta FA spokesman yesterday told The Times that next month's proposed U-21 friendly between Malta and Portugal will not be played after the UEFA Championship finalists had expressed their intentions to call off the match because of a heavy schedule.
Yesterday, Portugal were due to play Morocco at home but the Portuguese FA said the north Africans were unable to fulfil the fixture and the match was called off as well.
Portugal will play in Group B with Germany, Switzerland and Sweden in the UEFA U-21 Championship finals which start on May 27.
The friendly, a few days before the championship gets underway, would have been a tough test for Mark Miller's new squad as the Iberians were expected to field their strongest formation, composed of the same players who contributed to the team's qualification from Group Seven along with Turkey.
Templeman, Pullicino on national team trial
National team coach Horst Heese and assistant Carmel Busuttil yesterday added three new players to their squad after deciding to give Trevor Templeman and Peter Pullicino a trial while Kevin Sammut was recalled to the Malta fold.
The three players will start training at Ta' Qali as from next week. Yesterday, they were informed of their call-ups by National Teams Secretary Ivan Vella.
Templeman, who plays for Marsaxlokk, and Pullicino, of Hibs, are midfielders. It will be their first experience with the national squad but for Sliema's attacking midfielder Sammut, the former Malta U-21 skipper, it will be a second stint after he was dropped earlier this season due to bad form.