Pietro Ghedin yesterday named his first squad since being appointed Malta coach for the second time in his career earlier this month.

In selecting the 18-man group for Saturday’s friendly away to Luxembourg, the Italian has sprung up very few surprises with Dyson Falzon and Cleaven Frendo earning a place in the squad after a lapse of several years.

Both players are on the books of Valletta FC but spent time on loan with other clubs in the last two seasons.

While Falzon moved out on loan to Ħamrun and Mosta during the January transfer window in each of the last two years, Frendo followed his spell with Qormi with another one-year loan stint with Sliema Wanderers.

Widely regarded as two of the brightest prospects of Maltese football in their teens, Falzon and Frendo appear to have left a very good impression on Ghedin during training to the extent that yesterday both received his nod to travel with the rest of the contingent this afternoon.

Ghedin has kept faith with most of the players who have formed the backbone of the national side in recent years but, apart from Frendo and Falzon, he has also picked players who were on the fringes of the squad under former national coach John Buttigieg, the likes of Sliema Wanderers captain Alex Muscat and Birkirkara duo Joseph Zerafa and Paul Fenech.

Valletta midfielder Edmond Agius has retained his place in the squad after making his international bow in a 2-1 friendly win over Liechtenstein in February.

Shawn Bajada has missed out on selection due to injury while goalkeeper Henry Bonello, Hibs duo Edward Herrera and Ryan Camilleri, John Mintoff and Julian Galea have all been dropped after being included in a provisional 24-strong squad.

The friendly in Luxembourg is Malta’s first warm-up for the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers. The national team have been drawn in Group B with Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Armenia.

The squad

Goalkeepers
J. Haber, A. Hogg.

Defenders
A. Agius, S. Borg, J. Caruana, A. Muscat, J. Zerafa, C. Failla.

Midfielders
R. Briffa, E. Agius, P. Fenech, G. Sciberras, D. Falzon.

Forwards
C. Frendo, D. Bogdanovic, M. Mifsud, A. Cohen, A. Schembri.

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