Malta face Romania today at Hibs Ground

Malta's commitments in the qualifying group matches of the UEFA U-21 Championship will kick off against Romania at the Hibs Ground at 5.45 p.m. today.

This will be the first competitive engagement for the team under the charge of Mark Miller after they lost to Georgia in April last year on a 4-2 aggregate in a double-header qualifying play-off, valid for the 2007 Championship.

Since then, Malta had mixed fortunes when playing friendlies as Miller and assistant Silvio Vella opted to draft new players in their squad so that they would obtain the necessary experience.

France, Wales and Bosnia Herzegovina are the other sides in Malta's UEFA U-21 qualification group.

Visitors Romania, in Malta with a 24-strong squad, registered a very creditable 1-1 draw in France last Friday in their opening group match. The Romanians were leading one-nil at the interval.

But, there was a marked improvement in Malta's performance graph when in the last match they beat Sweden 2-1 in an international friendly.

This was a result which boosted the players' confidence, and if they can reproduce the cohesive play and fighting qualities against the strong Romanians, a satisfactory result is possible.

Malta U-21's next assignment in the group is a double-header - away in Bosnia (Sept. 7) and home to France (Sept. 11).

Today, gates at the Hibs Ground will open one hour before kick-off. Entrance tickets cost Lm1.50.

Miller's squad

Goalkeepers: M. Falzon (Hamrun Spartans), M. Montfort (Valletta).

Defenders: A. Agius (Martina Franca), S. Bezzina (Valletta), J. Caruana (Hibs), C. Failla (Hibs), T. Farrugia (Msida), J. Grioli (Valletta), E. Herrera (Pietà), K. Spiteri (Hibs).

Midfielders: E. Agius (Hibs), M. Bartolo (Hibs), D. Falzon (Valletta), P. Fenech (Msida), R. Fenech (Hamrun), J. Vella (Hibs).

Forwards: A. Buhagiar (Floriana), S. Meilak (Hamrun), I. Zammit (Valletta).