With Malta’s home match against Italy just over three months away, local fans are being given a second opportunity to secure an early seat for the eagerly-awaited World Cup qualifier as the Malta FA yesterday relaunched the Goal Card initiative.

Introduced last summer, the Goal Card is essentially a block ticket for Malta’s 2014 World Cup home qualifiers, including the March 26 encounter with the Azzurri. The other Group B home matches are against Denmark (Sep. 6), Bulgaria (Sep. 10) and the Czech Republic (Oct. 11).

Besides the primary advantage of a guaranteed seat at the National Stadium, Goal Card buyers also benefit from reduced entrance prices compared to what one would normally pay to purchase match tickets individually.

The Goal Cards can be purchased online on www.mfa.com.mt or by calling at the Malta FA offices in the Millennium Stand.

“In light of the encouraging demand for the Goal Card last summer, we have decided to reintroduce this initiative for the Christmas period,” Alex Manfrè, the Malta FA vice-president, said yesterday.

“The Goal Cards will be on sale from December 3 till December 25.”

Manfrè also announced that those who bought a Goal Card in the June-July period will be granted free entrance for Malta’s home friendly against Northern Ireland on February 6. This offer also applies to new buyers.

Malta have already played one World Cup qualifier at home, losing 1-0 to Armenia in September, but the inclusion of the Northern Ireland friendly in the latest Goal Card package means that new buyers will get the same value for money as those who obtained the card last summer.

Asked if the initial interest in the Goal Card had matched their expectations, Norman Saliba, the Malta FA’s marketing manager, replied: “This was an experiment for us and in setting our projections, we tried to keep our feet on the ground.

“The aim of the goal card is to incentivise fans to attend all of Malta’s World Cup qualifiers. There is no doubt that the Italy game would attract a big crowd.”