Balzan duo Steve Bezzina and Andrew Scicluna have been added to the pool of national squad players after their early-season performances for their club caught the eye of Malta coach Pietro Ghedin.
Bezzina, who plays at left-back, and Scicluna, a central defender, are believed to have left a positive impression since linking up with the national squad late last month.
Ghedin, who regularly watches the domestic matches to assess the form of his established players and to check on the progress of other prospects, had been monitoring Bezzina and Scicluna for a number of months before inviting them to train with the national squad after the conclusion of Malta’s World Cup qualifying campaign last month.
A product of Valletta, Bezzina, 26, made two appearances for Malta when John Buttigieg was in charge but failed to establish himself, albeit a succession of injuries last season didn’t help his cause.
The 23-year-old Scicluna, who has come through the youth ranks of Birkirkara, has never been capped by Malta.
After ending an erstwhile positive World Cup campaign with crushing defeats to the Czech Republic (4-1) and Denmark (6-0), Malta will host Faroe Islands in a friendly match at the National Stadium on November 19 (kick-off 7pm).
Goalkeeper Andrew Hogg, who is on the books of Greek club Kalloni, is in line to be recalled to the Malta squad after being left out by Ghedin for Malta’s final two World Cup qualifiers.
It remains to be seen whether Malta captain Michael Mifsud, who earned his 101st cap in the Denmark drubbing, will make himself available to play in the friendly.
Mifsud is currently plying his trade with Australian club Melbourne Heart.
The squad’s preparations for their final outing this year have been overshadowed by a row with Valletta who ordered their players not to report for training with the national squad on Monday and Tuesday as had been the norm for the last few years.
Valletta’s stance prompted the Malta FA to drop their players from the national squad but two of them, Roderick Briffa and Jonathan Caruana, are in contention to make the final squad for this month’s friendly.
Briffa is employed by the Malta FA and Caruana benefits from the 20/20 leave scheme for elite sportsmen, meaning that both are obliged to train with the national squad on Tuesday morning.
As things stand, Ryan Fenech and Shaun Bajada, who were in the squad for the Denmark qualifier, are unlikely to be considered for selection but the situation may change if further talks between the Malta FA and representatives of the Premier League clubs on the national squads’ training programme lead to an agreement.
Sources have told Times of Malta that the meeting, scheduled to take place at the start of next week, is expected to discuss a new training concept.
The current arrangement, whereby players have three training sessions with the national squads on Monday and Tuesday, is likely to be ditched. One of the key proposals is for players to report for training with the national squad 10 days before an international game.
The friendly between Malta and Faroe Islands is a clash between two European minnows.
Malta finished bottom of World Cup qualifying Group B with three points while Faroe Islands propped up the Group C table with one point from 10 qualifiers.
Malta had been due to host Iceland on November 19 but the Nordic nation had to pull out after securing a place in the World Cup play-offs. They will play Croatia with the first leg in Reykjavik on November 15 and the return four days later in Zagreb.
Meanwhile, the Malta U-21 squad are gearing up for their upcoming 2015 UEFA U-21 Championship qualifiers at home to Poland (November 15) and away to Sweden (November 19).
Ray Farrugia, the Malta U-21 coach, has drafted two new defenders in his squad, Vittoriosa Stars’ Samir Arab and Keith Tanti, who plays for Division One side St George’s.
Melita goalkeeper Philippe Schranz, Balzan wing-back Godwin McKay and Valletta forward Llywelyn Cremona have been promoted from the Malta U-19 squad.
After finishing the last qualifying campaign with a commendable tally of five points, the Malta U-21s are finding the going tough in a strong Group Seven containing Sweden, Poland, Turkey and Greece.
The Maltese youngsters have lost their opening four qualifiers but there is hope that Farrugia will lift the team’s performance level in their remaining four matches.