Malta coach Pietro Ghedin yesterday sum-moned 25 home-based players for training as the national squad resumes with their schedule at the Ta’ Qali grounds tomorrow after a short break in the off-season.
There were no surprises in the Italian’s selection as the bulk of players in his squad will again be composed of players – 20 in all – from Birkirkara, Hibernians, Valletta and Sliema Wanderers.
In September, the national team will be engaged in a double fixture – vs Denmark and Bulgaria – from the 2014 World Cup group qualifiers.
The two matches will be played at the National Stadium, the first against the Danes on Friday, September 6 with the clash against Bulgaria next four days later.
As a warm-up to these two competitive matches, the national team will play a friendly match away at Azerbaijan.
This warm-up will be played on Wednesday, August 14.
In their last outing, on June 7, Malta beat Armenia 1-0 away to register the first points in Group B after having conceded five defeats in succession.
Bulgaria are currently second behind Italy in the standings on 10 points as Denmark are languishing at the wrong end of the standings with six points from six matches.
The new domestic season in Malta kicks off with the BOV Super Cup clash between champions Birkirkara and Hibs, the FA Trophy winners, on August 7.
The first matches from the 2013-14 BOV Premier League will be played on August 17.
The squad
Goalkeepers: H. Bonello (Sliema), J. Haber (Birkirkara), G. Zammit (Sliema), N. Vella (Tarxien Rainbows).
Defenders: J. Borg (Balzan), S. Borg (Valletta), R. Camilleri (Hibs), J. Caruana (Valletta), L. Dimech (Valletta), C. Failla (Hibs), C. Gatt Baldacchino (Sliema), J. Grioli (Balzan), A. Muscat (Sliema).
Midfielders: S. Bajada (Valletta), R. Briffa (Valletta), A. Cohen (Hibernians), P. Fenech (Birkirkara), R. Fenech (Valletta), E. Herrera (Birkirkara), J. Mintoff (Sliema), R. Muscat (Birkirkara), M. Scerri (Sliema), G. Sciberras (Birkirkara).
Forwards: D. Bogdanovic (unattached), M. Mifsud (unattached).