Malta U-19 coach David De Sousa Nascimento has named an 18-man squad for the UEFA Championship mini-tournament that will be played here this week.
Nascimento has included Aidan Friggieri, of Sliema Wanderers, Hibs winger Joseph Mbong (Hibernians) and St Andrew’s trio Matthew Guillaumier, Jacob Wal-ker and Kyrian Nwoko.
All five have featured regularly in the Premier League so far this season as the national team selectors want the team to produce a creditable showing in the tournament.
Malta were drawn in Group Six and open their commitments this afternoon when they face Israel at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, starting at 2pm.
Denmark and Iceland, the other two teams in competition, will play each other at the Hibs Stadium this afternoon (2pm kick-off).
On Thursday, Iceland play Israel at the Tedesco Stadium, with kick-off time set at 11.30am, while Malta take on Denmark at 2.45pm at the same venue.
Competition comes to a close on Sunday when Iceland play Malta at the Hibs Stadium and Denmark take on Israel at the Tedesco Stadium.
Both matches start at 2pm.
The top two teams from the 13 qualifying groups in Europe pro-gress to the Elite Round along with the third-placed team enjoying the best record against the top two in their group.
The squad
J. Azzopardi (Rabat), T. Aquilina (Sliema), J. Borg (Valletta), Z. Brincat (Mosta), D. Buckle (Hibs), J.C. Corbalan (Balzan), A.J. Friggieri (Sliema), C. Grech (Hibs), J. Grech (Ħamrun), M. Guillaumier (St Andrew’s), J. Mbong (Hibs), K. Nwoko (St Andrew’s), N. Pulis (Valletta), N. Tabone (Żejtun), J. Vella (Sliema), J. Walker (St Andrew’s), D. Xuereb (Hibs), C. Zammit (Hibs).