Buttigieg names 19-man squad amid Briffa recovery hopes

Malta coach John Buttigieg left it until after training yesterday to finalise his squad selection for Satur-day’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Greece, The Times has learnt.

After trimming his list to 23 players late Monday, Buttigieg was expected to drop another five yes-terday but left out four after settling on a 19-strong squad instead of the customary 18.

With key player Roderick Briffa nearing the completion of his recovery from a groin strain, sources said Buttigieg is prepared to wait until the last moment before making a decision on the Valletta right-back’s fitness for the Greece qualifier.

Buttigieg had also opted for a 19-man squad to Croatia in November to have extra cover for Carlo Mamo.

The Marsaxlokk left-back was struggling with a thigh injury at the time. Mamo made the trip to Zagreb but played no part in the 3-0 defeat to Croatia.

The presence of regular keepers Justin Haber, who saved two penalties in the friendly draw (0-0) against Switzerland last month, and Andrew Hogg in the provisional squad meant that Reuben Gauci’s chances were remote. In fact, the Marsaxlokk goalkeeper was among those who failed to make the cut yesterday.

Kenneth Scicluna had been a surprise inclusion in the provisional squad as the Valletta defender has been sidelined since last summer with a nagging groin problem.

With Massimo Grima having called time on his international career earlier this year, Buttigieg’s options at the back have been further stretched by the unavail-ability of Valletta defender Steve Borg because of important acade-mic commitments.

Scicluna’s return to full training will have prompted Buttigieg to keep him in his 23-man pool but the Malta coach has decided not to gamble on the experienced defender’s fitness for what promises to be a gruelling game on Saturday.

Valletta midfielder Kevin Sam-mut and Ivan Woods, the Floriana midfielder-cum-forward, were the other two players who failed to gain a berth in the squad that will check in at the Grand Hotel Excelsior after this morning’s training session at Ta’ Qali.

As reported by The Times last week, Buttigieg has picked four players who ply their trade with overseas clubs, namely Ferenc-varos duo Haber and Andrè Schembri, Sheffield United for-ward Daniel Bogdanovic and Cen-tral Coast Mariners midfielder John Hutchinson.

This foreign-based quartet arrived here at the weekend and reported for training with their team-mates on Monday.

Valletta midfielder Ryan Fenech is back in the reckoning after injury kept him out of the Switzerland friendly last month.

Meanwhile, Greece coach Fer-nando Santos on Friday called a 19-man squad for Saturday’s qualifier and the friendly against Poland three days later.

AEK Athens winger Panayiotis Lagos has been recalled to the Greece squad on the back of his fine form in domestic competitions.

Greece are second in Group F with eight points, two behind leaders Croatia who travel to Georgia on Saturday. Israel host Latvia in the other group match.

Malta squad

Goalkeepers: Andrew Hogg (Valletta); Justin Haber (Ferencvaros).

Defenders: Joseph Zerafa (Birkir-kara), Jonathan Caruana (Valletta), Roderick Briffa (Valletta), Carlo Mamo (Marsaxlokk), Clayton Failla (Sliema Wanderers), Edward Her-rera (Hibernians), Andrei Agius (Birkirkara).

Midfielders: Jamie Pace (Valletta), John Hutchinson (Central Coast Mariners), Gareth Sciberras (Mar-saxlokk), Paul Fenech (Birkirkara), Ryan Fenech (Valletta), Shaun Bajada (Birkirkara), Andrew Cohen (Hibs).

Forwards: Michael Mifsud (Qormi), Andre Schembri (Ferencvaros), Daniel Bogdanovic (Shef-field United).