Pietro Ghedin has been confirmed as Malta football national coach for the next two years.

The Italian national will therefore lead Malta into the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.

Mr Ghedin signed the contract extension with Malta Football Association boss Norman Darmanin Demajo.

Ghedin began his second stint as Malta coach in 2012, succeeding John Buttigieg who was dismissed by the MFA after the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Under the Italian, Malta attained a 1-0 win over Armenia in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and commendable draws away to Bulgaria (1-1) and at home to Azerbaijan (2-2) in the Euro 2016 qualifying trek which came to an end last October. The national team also produced creditable performances in their last four meetings with Italy.

The 63-year-old has also blooded a host of promising youngsters into the senior squad, the likes of Rowen Muscat, Zach Muscat and Bjorn Kristensen while Llywelyn Cremona, Ryan Camenzuli, Clyde Borg and Emanuel Briffa featured for the national team in the friendly match against Jordan last November, Malta’s last official outing in 2015.

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