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Malta gearing up for Euro 2020 qualifiers in June

Published: 28-05-2019 13:40
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Malta are stepping up their preparations for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers away to Sweden and at home to Romania in June. All the players called up by national coach Ray Farrugia have reported for training, including those of Valletta and Balzan who were involved in the FA Trophy final on May 18. Defender Zach Muscat, who spent last season with Portuguese club SC Olhanense, and winger Luke Gambin, who played for League two side Crawley Town, have also joined up with their international team-mates. Malta travel to Sweden for their first away commitment in this qualifying campaign on June 7 before hosting Romania at the National Stadium three days later. The national team have three points after the first two Group F qualifiers following a 2-1 home victory over the Faroe Islands and a 2-0 defeat to Group F favourites Spain in March. From the initial 26-man squad named by Farrugia and his coaching staff earlier this month, Sliema Wanderers midfielder Ryan Fenech and Leighton Grech, the Senglea Athletic winger, have dropped out due to injuries. They join Birkirkara midfielder Matthew Guillaumier and Ħamrun Spartans flank defender Karl Micallef on the sidelines while Hibernians striker Jurgen Degabriele and Sliema Wanderers forward Jean Paul Farrugia are recovering from long-term injuries. Sweden, Malta's next opponents in Group F, collected four points from their opening two qualifiers. They beat Romania 2-1 and drew 3-3 away to Norway. Coach Janne Andersson has called a squad of 25 players for the upcoming qualifiers at home to Malta and away to Spain. GOALKEEPERSKarl-Johan Johnsson (EA Guingamp); Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Swansea City); Robin Olsen (AS Roma). DEFENDERSLudwig Augustinsson (SV Werder Bremen); Andreas Granqvist (Helsingborgs IF); Filip Helander (Bologna); Niklas Hult (AEK Athens); Pontus Jansson (Leeds United); Per Karlsson (AIK); Emil Krafth (SC Amiens); Mikael Lustig (Celtic FC); Alexander Miloševic (Nottingham Forest). MIDFIELDERSSebastian Andersson (FC Union Berlin); Jimmy Durmaz (Toulouse); Albin Ekdal (Sampdoria); Alexander Isak (Willem II); Jakob Johansson (Stade Rennais); Sebastian Larsson (AIK Fotboll AB); Kristoffer Olsson (FC Krasnodar); Gustav Svensson (Seattle Sounders). FORWARDSMarcus Berg (Al Ain); Viktor Claesson (FC Krasnodar); Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig); John Guidetti (Deportivo Alavés); Robin Quaison (FSV Mainz 05). TICKETS FOR MALTA-ROMANIA The sale of tickets for Malta’s Euro 2020 home qualifying match against Romania, at the National Stadium on June 10, is underway. For more information, follow this link – https://bit.ly/2YWdlfL