Upcoming Maltese players will have another chance to stake their claim for a place in future selections when this evening Malta U-20 take on Switzerland U-19 in a friendly at the National Stadium.
After a premature exit in the 2006-07 U-21 Championship at the hands of Georgia last April, coach Mark Miller is trying to assemble a strong squad ahead of the next UEFA competition and is using friendlies to see what talent is available.
"The Switzerland friendly is an ideal test for us in our process of selecting players for next year's qualifiers," Miller said yesterday.
"We have three groups in our youth sector, U-20, U-19, U-18. Now, we are trying to see which players can make the grade. There are some interesting faces coming up, players who already managed to break into the first team of their clubs. Commitment in training is high. Now we have to see that this trend keeps going."
Among the new players drafted in today are Valletta duo, Justin Grioli and Steve Bezzina, and Floriana's Christian Caruana.
Last Saturday, Switzerland U-19 beat Malta U-19 3-2 at Ta' Qali. An away friendly, against Tunisia, is planned for November.
Malta: M. Montfort, J. Grioli, C. Failla, S. Bezzina, E. Agius, P. Fenech, M. Bartolo, D. Falzon, R. Fenech, I. Zammit, C. Caruana.