Malta U-21 coach Ray Farrugia believes today’s friendly against Austria will stand his team in good stead as they launch preparations for the 2013-15 UEFA Champion-ship qualifiers.
“Austria are ranked 13th in the Under-21 rankings,” Farrugia, whose team have been drawn with Sweden, Turkey, Greece and Poland in Group Seven, told a news conference yesterday.
“They are a good, strong team and many of their players are on the books of German clubs. It’s a good thing that we’re playing this friendly because, in my opinion, Austria are on the same level as Turkey, Greece and Poland.”
The Malta Under-21 coach stressed the importance of friendly matches for all our national selections.
“I had a chat with the Austria coach during the UEFA U-21 draws in Nyon,” he said.
“They’ve already played three friendlies, a 1-1 draw with Greece and wins over Hungary (3-0) and Congo (5-0).
“This represents the difference between their build-up and ours.
“It’s very important for all our national teams to play as many friendlies as possible. I know it’s easier for the nations in mainland Europe because they can travel overland but we cannot do that.”
Farrugia has drafted several new players into his squad. For this match he has a team with six players enjoying some experience at this level plus five newcomers, namely, keeper Yenz Cini, Sacha Borg, Matthew Tabone, Brooke Farrugia and Ayrton Azzopardi.
Wing-back Ryan Camenzuli is injured while goalkeeper Jurgen Borg, who joined Żejtun on loan from Floriana, has only recently returned from a long lay-off.
“We have eight players who were with us in the last edition,” Farrugia said.
“But, I’m also pleased that most in the squad are seeing regular first-team action for their clubs, especially in the Premier League.”
In last month’s 7-0 win over Italian amateurs ASD Vigor Mellis, Farrugia had two foreign-based players in his team, Louis Cutajar and Harry Davies.
Farrugia believes that Cutajar, who lives in England and has applied for a Maltese passport, could be useful for his team.
He also revealed that he’s moni-toring the progress of two pro-mising Australian-born brothers, Jayke and Bryce Cuschieri.
“From what I’ve seen, the Cus-chieri brothers are very talented and both will be having a trial with West Ham United,” Farrugia said.
“Their father is keen to see them playing for Malta and that’s an advantage for us because they are valid players.”
Having recently signed a two-year contract extension, Farrugia has lost none of his enthusiasm for the job.
He said: “It’s a two-year contract which, after my first spell between 1998 and 2002, means that I will have spent some eight years as U-21 coach.
“It’s a long time but I’m happy because we’re working together with Robert Gatt (the technical director) who is doing a great job.
“We still have a long way to go but there’s great enthusiasm and the best thing is that we’re all prepared to work together.”
Floriana midfielder Clyde Borg said that Farrugia has instilled a positive attitude inside the U-21 players.
“Ours is a positive mentality,” Borg said.
“We played attacking football in our last friendly. We have our strategy and believe in our qualities. We respect our oppo-nents but we’re not afraid to play our game.”
Malta U-21: Y. Cini, R. Scicluna, Z. Muscat, M. Tabone, S. Borg, C. Borg, B. Farrugia, S. Pisani, B. Kristensen, A. Azzopardi, J.P. Farrugia.
Referee: Arnold Hunter (Ireland).
Kick-off: 2.30pm (Hibs Stadium).