Malta host Ireland Under-18 team in two Friendlies

Preparations are already underway for the UEFA Under-19 Championship 2023 in Malta, with the qualification matches being played in the autumn of next year and in the first part of 2023. Malta will be hosting the final tournament and therefore obviously gained automatic qualification The technical team of the MFA have planned a series of Friendly games for the squad with players born in 2004 and 2005, which was kicked off last month already with two matches against the counterparts of Estonia. The first match was won 3-1, while the second match ended in a 1-1 stalemate. Tomorrow and Thursday, Malta will host the National Under-18 team of the Republic of Ireland, who touched down in Malta a few days ago and have already held a few training sessions at the Ta’ Qali training grounds. The squadMalta coach Alessandro Zinnari has chosen the following 22 players for these two Friendly matches: GK Beppe Mangion (25/5/04) - St Andrews FCGK Adam Buttigieg (15/9/04) – Sliema Wanderers FC DEF Jake Grech (6/2/04) – Balzan FCDEF Andrew Apap-Bologna (3/2/05) - St Andrews FCDEF Miguel Azzopardi (24/5/04) – Valletta FCDEF Nathan Cope (29/6/04) - Pieta' Hotspurs FCDEF Matteo Gambin (2/5/04) – Birkirkara FCDEF Nicholas Galea (7/11/04) – St Andrews FCDEF Ivin Farrugia (2/6/05) – Pieta’ Hotspurs FC MID Lucas Caruana (24/9/05) – Hibernians FCMID Andrew Borg (27/5/04) - St Andrews FCMID Jake Micallef (12/1/04) - San Gwann FCMID Brooklyn Borg (8/1/04) - Pieta' Hotspurs FCMID Jake Vassallo (21/6/04) – Mosta FCMID Mattias Ellul (3/12/04) – St Andrews FCMID Luca Gatt (30/8/04) - Pieta' Hotspurs FC FWD Zak Barbara (7/2/05) – Valletta FCFWD Jamie Scerri (2/2/04) - Pieta' Hotspurs FCFWD Sebastian Azzopardi (5/2/05) – NY Metropolitan Oval Academy (USA)FWD Shaisen Attard (29/10/04) - Hamrun Spartans FCFWD Nathan Cross (1/9/04) – Birkirkara FCFWD Gabriel Diego Farrugia (24/11/04) – Balzan FC New in the squad are Adam Buttigieg, Nicholas Galea, Mattias Ellul, Gabriel Diego Farrugia and New York based Sebastian Cole Azzopardi, while all other players have previously played official matches for either Malta’s Under-19, U18 or U17 teams.  FixturesTuesday 7 December (11h00) Malta vs Rep.Ireland (Tony Bezzina Stadium)Thursday 9 December (11h00) Malta vs Rep.Ireland (Tony Bezzina Stadium)TicketsAdults - €6U12, Over 60, Concessions - €4School children (in uniform) and teachers – free