Giancarlo Antognoni, a World Cup winner with Italy in 1982, former Scotland defender Colin Hendry and Lorenzo Amoruso, a former Italian defender who is best remembered for his successful six-year spell with Scottish club Rangers, were present for the launch of the Italy-Scotland friendly, held this morning at the Centenary Hall.
The National Stadium at Ta’ Qali will host the lucrative Italy-Scotland warm-up on May 29 with kick-off time set for 8.45pm.
Antognoni, the former Fiorentina captain who made 73 appearances for Italy, spoke about the excellent relationship between the Italian football federation (FIGC) and the Malta FA.
“Italian football is also present here through Pietro Ghedin,” Antognoni told a news conference.
“I want to congratulate him for the work he’s doing with the national team of Malta.”
Antognoni said the Italy-Scotland friendly is a game between two nations that have a great footballing tradition.
“Italy has generally done well in the major football tournaments while the Scottish are very passionate about football,” Antognoni said.
Italy have been drawn with Belgium, Sweden and Ireland in Group E of the Euro 2016 finals,
Hendry, who won the English Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers and has 51 caps for Scotland, described the My 29 friendly as an important game for Scotland.
“It’s part of the redevelopment programme of the national squad,” Hendry, whose son Kyle plays for Sliema Wanderers, said.
“It was a massive disappointment for us not to have qualified for the Euros. All the other British countries, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, have qualified.”
Amoruso said: “I’m Italian but I played for many years in Scotland, so there is no-one better than me to describe the spirit of these two nations.
“Italy have had a very good qualifying campaign but are not among the favourites to win Euro 2016.
“Scotland are going through a period when they have never qualified for a big tournament. They are trying to create a new squad for the World Cup qualifying campaign which kicks off in Malta in September.
“This game can serve as a launchpad for Italy ahead of their Euro campaign and for Scotland in their preparations for the World Cup qualifiers.”
Scotland are in Group F of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign along with England, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania and Malta.
Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA general secretary, expressed his delight that San Marco Sports Events had chosen Malta to host this friendly as other countries had shown an interest in staging the event.
Vassallo thanked the FIGC and the Scottish FA for their co-operation, adding that this friendly is testament to the excellent relations the Malta FA has with these two associations.
Stefano Pucci, the head of San Marco Sports Events, the organisers of the friendly, said they had decided to stage the Italy-Scotland match in Malta after assessing the existing facilities and following talks with Malta FA officials.
“I regret not having organised something in Malta earlier,” Pucci said.
“We’ve been assisted at a very professional level.”
Ticket prices for the May 29 friendly are as follows: North and South Stand €26 (€15 for children U-12); Millennium €50 (children €30); West Stands €75; West B VIP €100.