Maltese youngsters can only make the grade overseas if they are prepared to make sacrifices to adapt to the rigours of professional football.

Commenting on reports that at least two up-and-coming Maltese players had returned home after passing up the chance to join clubs in Italy, Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA general secretary, said that the local football body was investing heavily in its youth sector but stressed that the upcoming talents need to show more perseverance to overcome any difficulties they may encounter at a new club abroad.

“Our long-term project has enabled young players to take in between 20 and 30 international games in a two-year period to compensate for their lack of exposure to professional football at domestic level,” Vassallo said yesterday.

“We have received many en-quires about our young players thanks to our programme.

“Some requests failed to materialise, others did and we have also had cases of players coming back either because they felt homesick or for other reasons.

“Some of our youngsters are not prepared to make the step-up.

“Tomorrow (today) another two Maltese boys are leaving to hopefully join foreign clubs.”

Jurgen Grech, who is on the books of Mosta, and Zachary Grech, of Pembroke Athleta, are heading to Italy today to start a trial with the youth teams of Serie B club Perugia.

“We are generally sending our youngsters to a neighbouring country (Italy) where the culture and climate are similar to ours,” Vassallo added.

“The only difference is that their football is professional and we are still part-timers. A lot of people are probably comfortable staying in Maltese football and are therefore disinclined to travel overseas.

“We have determined youngsters like Myles Beerman, of Manchester City, who have persevered.

“Also, established players like Michael Mifsud, Andrei Agius and Justin Haber have spent several years playing abroad while the likes of Andre Schembri, Andrew Hogg and Steve Borg are with overseas clubs.

“But for our young players to raise their level, they need to play professional football and look beyond the financial aspect as they have to make sacrifices to gain the desired rewards.”

Euro qualifiers

Malta’s Euro 2016 Group H qualifiers away to Italy on September 3 and at home to Azerbaijan three days later were the focus of yesterday’s news conference.

Vassallo expressed his satisfaction that Malta’s game against Italy, to be played in Florence, is generating significant enthusiasm among local fans as well as the media.

“The public obviously expects a good performance from our team in both games,” he said.

“Unfortunately, this is not always possible as our players are facing full-time professionals in international football and this makes it difficult for us to compete at a par.

“This is why we are putting a lot of emphasis on the grassroots but we have obtained good results in the past and I’m confident that we can give a good account of ourselves in the next two qualifiers”

Norman Saliba, the MFA marketing manager, announced a new three-year agreement with Talocan who have become the second gold sponsors of the national teams.

They join FXDD and CISK as main partners of the Malta teams.

Talocan, wholesalers of electronic products and owners of the Electronic Island franchise, will be assisting the MFA’s efforts to improve its fan engagement and loyalty programmes.

On the Malta-Azerbaijan qualifier on September 6, Saliba said that the sale of tickets for the Millennium Stand and West end begins next Friday.

Thorny issue

Vassallo also explained the reasons that led the Malta FA to install anti-climb spikes on top the perimeter wall separating the enclosure sector from the pitch at the National Stadium.

This decision caused an outcry among the fans who accused the MFA of turning the stadium into a prison but Vassallo said the spikes were intended to prevent pitch invasions.

“The Malta FA can no longer assume responsibility for a situation where supposedly peaceful pitch invasions were becoming provocative,” Vassallo said.

He was alluding to the incidents that overshadowed several important matches in recent years after hundreds of supporters of the winning teams jumped on to the pitch at the final whistle

“Due to their limited resources, the police are helpless to stop a pitch invasion when it involves a large group of people.

“We understand the fans’ frustrations and we are willing to engage in discussions with them.

“To this end, we are in the process of creating a new role, that of Supporters Liaison Officer, to improve our communication with the fans.”