The Malta women’s national team will get their 2017 schedule up and running with two friendly games against Lithuania at the Centenary Stadium this week.
The first friendly is being played this evening, with kick-off set at 6.30pm while the second is on Friday and kicks off at 11am.
These warm-ups are part of the women’s national team build-up for the Aphrodite Cup, to be staged in Cyprus in March, and the matches against Greece, hosts Albania and Kosovo in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup preliminary round between April 6 and 11.
“These friendlies are an important part of our preparations for the upcoming international commitments,” Mark Gatt, the national coach, said.
“As some of our players are either injured or unwell at present, these games will also serve as an opportunity to introduce some new faces.
“We are also planning to assign different roles to a number of players as our aim is to improve the versatility of our team.”
Speaking on the national team’s objectives for this year, Gatt said: “Our main focus is the World Cup qualification group and our work in the coming months is geared towards this competition.
“I’m confident that we will learn a lot from the technical and tactical decisions we intend to make ahead of the tournament in April and this in turn would help us make the best choices and bring out the best of the squad when the competition gets under way.”
The Malta women’s coach made an appeal to the public to support the national team in this week’s friendly games against Lithuania.
“We hope that all those interested in women’s football will come to the Centenary Stadium and give the girls their support and courage they deserve,” Gatt said.
Meanwhile, Lithuania, ranked 87th in the world, will also be using these friendly matches against Malta as preparation for their World Cup qualifiers against Israel, Moldova and Andorra.
Malta and Lithuania met in the Aphrodite Cup last year with the latter winning 3-2.
Provisional squad
Goalkeepers: R. Borg (Mġarr); M. Xuereb (Mosta); J. Xuereb (Birkirkara); J. Attard (Raiders Luxol).
Defenders: R. Bajada, M. Debono, C. Zammit, J. Flask (all Hibs); C. Cassia (Kirkop ); S. Farrugia, A. Sultana, A.M. Said, Y. Vella, G. Zahra (all Birkirkara).
Midfielders: R. Borg, E. Xuereb, S. Zammit, D. Theuma (all Hibernians); R. Cuschieri (Apollon Ladies); K. Parnis (Birkirkara); B. Borg (Mġarr United).
Strikers: K. Agius, R. Giusti (Birkirkara); M. Borg, Y. Carabott (Hibernians).