This week, Malta play hosts to the women’s 2013 Euro Champion-ship qualifiers when a mini-tournament from the preliminary round will be played at the Centenary Stadium between tomorrow and next Tuesday.
The national team was drawn in Group Two along with Georgia, Armenia and the Faroe Islands.
Group One is composed of Luxembourg, Lithuania, Latvia and hosts Macedonia with the winners of the two mini-tournaments proceeding to the group stage of the qualifying round.
Given the rather modest level of opposition, Malta coach Pierre Brincat has made no secret of his desire to see his players taking a more offensive approach and, perhaps, chalk up some points.
“This will be our first competitive commitment since the World Cup qualifiers last year,” Brincat told reporters yesterday.
“Our opponents in the group are far less daunting than the World Cup where we had to play some of the top nations in Europe, such as England and Spain.
“In our group, Georgia seem to be one step ahead of the rest. So, I’m urging the girls to think positive and push forward to try and score goals. In other matches, we were forced to defend for long stretches but this tournament gives us the chance to venture forward more often.”
Brincat said seven players were having difficulties to dedicate more time to the squad due to work pressures while the promising Amber Grech had to give up altogether to focus more on her academical studies.
“It’s not an easy situation for some of our players to remain in the group for the whole duration of the tournament due to commitments at their workplaces,” the Malta coach said.
“That makes things harder for us but we have to carry on despite these difficulties.”
Birkirkara defender Chantal Fenech has failed a late fitness test and was replaced by Orianna Bedingfield.
Brincat has two new faces in the squad, Tarxien keeper Dorianne Grech and defender Kirsty Feasey who is on the books of Reading.
“Kirsty is of Maltese descent and has shown great interest to play for the national team. I’m sure her presence in defence will be a huge lift to the team,” Brincat said.
Brincat has now been at the helm of the national team for seven years. During his time, he has seen the women’s game develop to better standards.
“Women’s football has shown constant progress these past few years,” he said.
“The MFA is doing everything in its power to lure more girls to the sport. We’re organising various tournaments in different locations and some of our established players, the likes of Sharon Costantino, Dionne Tonna and Chantal Fenech, are now being encouraged to start a coaching career as we believe they are the real role models for the next generation.
“Certainly, there is still a lot of work to be done but I believe that women’s football has a bright future as we’re moving in the right direction.”
The squad
Keepers: S. Costantino (Mosta), D. Grech (Tarxien Rainbows).
Defenders: M. Azzopardi (Hibs), R. Chircop (Mosta), R. D’Agostino (Mosta), K. Feasey (Reading), N. Pace (Mosta), D. Theuma (Mosta), C. Zammit (Hibernians).
Midfielders: O. Bedingfield (Mosta), R. Cuschieri (Birkirkara), M. De-bono (Hibernians), A. Sammut (Mġarr), C. Vella White (Hibernians), E. Xuereb (Mosta), G. Zahra (Birkirkara).
Forwards: Y. Carabott (Hibernians), K. Saliba (Hibernians).
Programme (Centenary Stadium)
Tomorrow: 11 a.m. Georgia vs Malta; 2 p.m. Faroe Islands vs Armenia.
Saturday: 11 a.m. Armenia vs Georgia; 2 p.m. Faroe Islands vs Malta.
Tuesday: 11 a.m. Georgia vs Faroe Islands; 2 p.m. Malta vs Armenia.