The second match of the 2008 Euro Challenge Cup at the Centenary Stadium will see Marsaxlokk making their first showing in the pre-season triangular tournament when playing Birkirkara tonight (kick-off 8 p.m.).
The competition, open for teams representing the country in Europe this summer, got underway on Monday when Valletta, the league champions, and FA Trophy holders Birkirkara figured in an entertaining one-all draw.
Marsaxlokk, league runners-up last season, have never won the Euro Challenge Cup before and the last time they took part, in 2005, they had a poor showing and finished third in the standings behind Sliema Wanderers and Birkirkara.
However, teams taking part in this competition hardly focus on winning the title as more emphasis is laid on introducing new signings or upcoming players as well as trying out new tactics and build stamina.
Brian Talbot, the Marsaxlokk coach, will be more interested in this aspect at this early phase of the campaign.
The Briton was back to the islands this week as the pre-season training programme, now in its third week, was conducted by Talbot's assistant Peter Hartshorne.
This summer Marsaxlokk parted with a couple of regulars, the likes of Jamie Pace and Cleaven Frendo, but acquired reliable replacements as the club is looking to assemble a strong squad to challenge for the major honours.
Among the latest recruits are Christian Cassar, formerly of Floriana, and Brian Said, the Sliema Wanderers and Malta veteran central defender. They should be in the line-up today along with two other newcomers, striker Marcelo Pereira, who played for Mqabba last season, and ex-Valletta goalkeeper Saviour Darmanin.
Darmanin will surely be in the squad as regular Reuben Debono is still recovering from a hernia operation while stand-in keeper Reuben Gauci, along with Shaun Tellus, are likely to be loaned out to Qormi FC.
"It's a race against time to register the transfer documents of our new players to play in this tournament and the UEFA Cup next week," Hartshorne told The Times yesterday.
"We've made a couple of good signings this summer and there's a healthy competition for places in our squad. The Euro Challenge Cup matches will be our first tests so far because we haven't played any friendlies as yet. Hopefully, this will be the start of a prosperous season for Marsaxlokk."
Like Birkirkara, Marsaxlokk were paired with Croatian opponents in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round (July 17 and 31). The Stripes play Hajduk Split while Marsaxlokk face Slaven Koprivnica.
On Monday, Birkirkara left a good impression in the opening match of the Euro Challenge Cup even if most of the initiative was in Valletta's hands. However, the Stripes never lost composure and could have snatched a winner late on as the excessive heat left its toll on the players.
Birkirkara left Michael Galea and Shaun Bajada out of their starting line-up but both made an appearance in the second half as coach John Buttigieg was, perhaps, already thinking about today's match not to exhaust his players so early in the season.
Against Valletta, Omar Borg was a reliable performer in goal for Birkirkara and so was Alan Tabone in midfield as Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza led the side's charge up front.
"Generally, I was satisfied with what we did on Monday against Valletta," Buttigieg told The Times yesterday.
"Physically, we lasted the whole match even though we only started pre-season two weeks ago. Now, our objective is to stay on the upward trend and reach the UEFA Cup matches in top shape."
Remaining matches
Today (Centenary Stadium): 8 p.m. Marsaxlokk vs Birkirkara.
Friday (Centenary Stadium): 8 p.m. Valletta vs Marsaxlokk.