The Malta Under-17 squad will travel to Italy on Wednesday evening ahead of their participation in the 33rd edition of the Trofeo Nereo Rocco 2018.
Coach Noel Turner and his assistant Mark Marlow are taking 20 players for this annual tournament, being played in Lignano Sabbia d’Oro. The Maltese youngsters meet Red Star Belgrade in their opening group match on Friday at 6pm while their second match, on Saturday, is against Bologna U-17s. Their final group match is against Juventus U-17 on Sunday at 7pm. The Maltese players secured a timely boost ahead of their departure to Italy as last weekend, they beat Macedonia 1-0 in a friendly match following a 0-0 draw in their first meeting two days earlier. Coach Noel Turner was pleased with the team’s performances in the matches against Macedonia but stressed that there is still a lot of work to be done. “Our performances in the two friendlies against Macedonia were encouraging but we need to keep working hard to improve our tactical cohesion as we head to Italy to face three very strong teams,” Turner told www.mfa.com.mt. “We have to be more aggressive in our approach and this is what we are working on at the moment, as the games against Red Star, Bologna and Juventus will be the final tests for our boys before the difficult UEFA Under-17 qualifiers in October.” Malta will face Austria (24th October), hosts Slovenia (27th October) and Bulgaria (30th October) in the UEFA U-17 European Championship Group 3 qualifiers. Meanwhile, two players in the Malta U-17 squad will be sitting for their Matsec exams during the Trofeo Nereo Rocco tournament. The Malta Football Association would like to thank the University of Malta and SportMalta for their co-operation and assistance in sending a teacher with the group so that the two players can do their exams in Italy. MALTA U-17 SQUAD GoalkeepersMatthias Debono (Ħamrun Spartans); Miguel Spiteri (Deportivo Leganes, Spain); Dylan Ciappara (Mosta). DefendersGianluca Borg (Pietà Hotspurs); Ismael Borg (Lija Athletic); Matthew Ellul (Hibernians); Isaac Galea (Floriana); Sheldon Mizzi (Pietà Hotspurs); Daniel Luke Musu (San Ġwann); MidfieldersKurt Briffa (Pietà Hotspurs); Emerson Camilleri (Pietà Hotspurs); Jordan Kelly (St Andrews); Glen Mifsud (Hibernians); Karl Mohnani (Melita); Nikolai Farrugia Cross (Birkirkara); Gianluca Sciberras (Mosta) Owen Spiteri (San Ġwann). ForwardsJake Bone (Pietà Hotspurs); Victor Degiorgio (Pietà Hotspurs FC); Mattia Veselji (St Andrews).