Valletta, Qormi to play Triestina in triangular

Premier League teams Valletta and Qormi will play Triestina in a triangular tournament on December 30 as the Italian club will be visiting Malta for a mid-season training camp.

Triestina, who meet promotion hopefuls Torino tonight, are currently languishing in the bottom part of the Serie B table with 17 points from 18 matches.

They are scheduled to arrive in Malta on December 27 and fly back home the day after the friendly tournament is played at the National Stadium.

The club from the north have established strong ties on our islands following the launch of the Triestina Soccer School Malta, in partnership with De La Salle College, last October.

Earlier this month, promising school player Jurgen Degabriele, who is on the books of Hibs, had a one-week trial with the youth teams of Triestina.

In a poll held recently on the Triestina website, the majority of the 2,000 participants (40.17%) reckon that the team’s main objective this season should be to keep their Serie B status.

Only a modest 6.34% think that the Friuli team have a chance of winning promotion at the end of the season while 28% believe that the coach should focus on leading the team to a safe mid-table position.

Last year, another Italian team, Parma, held their winter training camp in Malta during Yuletide.

The Serie A club won a triangular tournament involving Valletta and Hibs.