by Malta will be playing their final home match in the UEFA Women’s European Qualification group stages against Northern Ireland this Friday at the Centenary Stadium (KO 19:30), before travelling to Portugal for the final match. Having named the twenty-five player squad, Malta’s Manuela Tesse is eyeing further growth and a response.
Tesse Eyeing Growth
The UEFA Women’s Qualification group stages head into the final round at the end of this week, with several promotions and relegations to be confirmed, while also setting up places for the draws of the upcoming play-off stages.
Malta will head into these final two matches seeking a return to positive results, following two defeats courtesy of late goals at the hands of Bosnia & Herzegovina in the previous round.
Manuela Tesse weighed in on the challenge ahead, “We knew we needed to get points in these matches (against Bosnia & Herzegovina), but football is like this. They scored the winning goal in the final minutes in both matches and we did not take our chances. So, we missed the opportunity to start this window with three points.”
Despite this, the coach is eyeing a positive response, “I am certain that the team has grown, but the spirit of the team was maybe different. However, we must learn from this and look forward.”
Malta’s contingent will seek to build on the point they achieved away from home in the opening match against Northern Ireland. The side will now seek to maximise the home advantage on the 12th July at the Centenary Stadium at 19:30. The contingent will then travel to Portugal for the final match against the group leaders on the 16th of July at 19:00 CET in Leiria.
Malta’s Manuela Tesse has called up twenty-five players, with a combination of experience as well as several young players, including a new call-up for Lexine Farrugia. Noting the lack of an U23 team for Malta, the Italian coach was probed about the challenge for young players to break into the first eleven, but also the benefit of having them train with the more experienced players in the team.
She said, “When I took over the project I knew that there are several players in defence who are over thirty, while our forwards are very young. So, there is a clear transition that the team will need to undergo, but we also have talent to have depth in the forward line coming up. We do not have the numbers to make an U23 team, so we need to find a way to give young players more minutes at international level. It is something we are looking to address, but this has to be done in a gradual way to ensure that players are not thrown into the fire.”
The Selection
Manuela Tesse and her staff have called up Raisa Costantino, together with the returning Maya Cachia and Patricia Ebejer in goalkeeping duties.
Emma Xuereb returns to the call-up following a return from injury, while Alexandra Gatt also returns. Jade Schembri and Rebecca Bajada make the selection as well, having also been called up during the previous round of fixtures. This year’s Malta Football Player of the Year and recent appearance centennial Stephania Farrugia returns alongside several of her club mates, including Ann-Marie Said who achieved her fiftieth appearance at national team level against Bosnia & Herzegovina as well.
Charlene Zammit joins them, as she eyes her own centennial appearance, while young defender Valentina Rapa continues to push for a consistent place among the top players of Malta. The defensive unit is completed by captain Emma Lipman who will be rallying the troops for a strong finale.
There are no new call-ups in midfield. Brenda Borg, Nicole Sciberras and Shona Zammit return alongside another of the veteran players in Rachel Cuschieri. Gabriella Zahra, Veronique Mifsud and Maia Debono complete the midfield fold.
In attack, there is one introduction as Lexine Farrugia makes the senior call-up. Jade Flask returns together with Maya Lucia, but the team will be without Alishia Sultana. The attack is completed by the explosive Haley Bugeja and Maria Farrugia who will aim to impress once more, together with Kailey Willis, with the trio hoping to rekindle memories of the UEFA Women’s Nations League in search of a strong finish.
Lead Image: Lara Schembri
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