Hamrun Spartans are hopeful that a friendly match against visiting Swiss team SC Zofingen today will set the wheels in motion for a collaboration agreement between the two clubs.

SC Zofingen, an amateur club plying its trade in Switzerland's Division Three league, are in the midst of a one-week training camp at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, the venue of today's friendly which kicks off at 4 p.m.

The visit of SC Zofingen in Malta materialised thanks to their sponsors, Siegfried Generics Ltd, a pharmaceutical company who are in the process of opening a production site in Malta.

Siegfried Generics Ltd used their close association with SC Zofingen to begin promoting their presence in Malta.

"As Siegfried Generics will soon start operations here, we believe the visit of the football team we sponsor in Switzerland and the friendly against Hamrun is a good way to highlight our presence in Malta," Kern Hans-Rudolf, Project Director of Siegfried Generics (Malta) Ltd, told a news conference at the Tedesco Stadium yesterday.

"This match will also be an opportunity for the two clubs to get to know each other better."

Players monitored

Hamrun Spartans officials, led by president Jesmond Mangion, expressed a desire that today's friendly signals the start of a fruitful relationship between the two clubs.

Mangion also revealed that two young Hamrun players left a good impression on the SC Zofingen coaches during the Spartans' 3-2 defeat of St Patrick in the FA Trophy on Saturday.

The Spartans president added that today's friendly will enable the Zofingen coaches to take a closer look at these players.

Willy Neuenschwander, head coach of SC Zofingen, thanked Hamrun Spartans for allowing his team to make use of their training facilities.

He said his team are currently placed eighth in the 16-team Swiss Division Three league and that the two foreign players in their squad have been living in Switzerland for a long time.

Also present for yesterday's news conference was Pietro Di Natale, the chief architect of Siegfried Generics plant at the Hal Far Industrial Estate, and a member on the board of SC Zofingen.

Siegfried Generics have plans to finish works on their site at Hal Far by mid-2006 with a view to commencing operations by early next year.

Initially, the company will employ 20 people.

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