by Malta will be hosting Group B2 in the UEFA WU17 European Championship Qualifiers starting this Wednesday. Malta’s coach, Clint Tabone, spoke of the objectives and the hurdles in separating selections as Malta prepares to compete in both U17 and U19 European Qualification tournaments in the same cycle for the first time this month. Malta will kick-off proceedings against Romania at the Centenary Stadium (11:00), with the match followed by Ukraine against Moldova (14:30).
Objectives & Preparations
The Malta U17 Women’s National team will be hosting the UEFA WU17 European Championship Qualifiers of Group B2 at the Centenary Stadium between tomorrow Wednesday 13th and Tuesday 19th November. Romania, Ukraine and Moldova will be the teams welcomed on Maltese soil.
Having previously led the U15 and U16 cohorts, Clint Tabone will be leading the U17 team in this competition. Tabone described the objectives for Malta, “We look to challenge ourselves against strong opponents, maintain a positive attitude, and demonstrate character and determination. These are qualities that we believe will lead to positive performances and good results.”
Questioned about preparations, Tabone explained that the U17 team was called up for a training camp during October but there was little detail exposed by the Maltese coach. He said, “Given the limited time for preparation due to players’ club commitments, we focused on the key objectives during the camp held in October. We prioritised the most important aspects of the game, believing that if we execute these on the field, it will lead to strong performances in the tournament.”
The team will initiate proceedings at the Centenary Stadium on Wednesday at 11:00, hosting Romania. The other two teams in the group, Ukraine and Moldova, will kick-start their tournament on the same day with a 14:30 kick-off at the same stadium.
Saturday 16th will present matchday 2, where Malta welcomes Ukraine at 11:00, before Romania and Moldova meet at 14:30. The final matchday will be played on Tuesday 19th, starting with Moldova against Malta (11:00) and finishing off with Ukraine against Romania (14:30). All matches will be played at the Centenary Stadium.
The matches involving Malta will be televised on TVM Sport+, and live-streamed on the Malta FA Youtube channel.
Selection Difficulties Amid A First U17 & U19 Double Participation
While the U17 team challenges in this competition, Malta’s U19 team will be heading to compete in the UEFA Women’s U19 European Championships in a couple of weeks’ time.
As highlighted in a previous article, this will be a first for Maltese women’s football. It is a positive in terms of suggesting an improved quantity of players of sufficient quality to compete in both tournaments within the same year, but at the same time still presents its own challenges considering that the quantities are still fairly small and thus several of these players could play for either age group by eligibility.
Questioned about making these selections, Tabone underlined the alignment between the Malta Football Association coaches, “Selecting the players was obviously a major challenge for us. As the U17 coach, I worked closely with the U19 coach (David Attard) and involved our senior national team coach (Manuela Tesse). Our main objective was the players’ development, ensuring that we made decisions that would best support their growth while also maintaining a balance between both teams.”
Tabone backed up the selection, “We strongly believe that we have selected the best players, based on their performances in their respective leagues. We finalised the squad during the camp held in October, after closely assessing each player in every training session.”
The squad called up for the U17 cohort consists of two goalkeepers in Hibernians’ Maya Muscat and SK Lija’s Julia Zarb, both of whom have made appearances at senior domestic level, while being regular features at U19 league level.
The defence will also feature several who have already made a number of appearances within the the two leagues, such as full-backs Ilona Abela (Swieqi United), Lara May Azzopardi (Birkirkara) and Maia Gauci (Birkirkara). Joining them are also Ylenia Debono (SK Lija), Shanneil Farrugia (Birkirkara), Jade Galea (Hibernians), Amy Portelli (Swieqi United) and Krista Sacco (Birkirkara) who are becoming regulars in the U19 league.
The midfield will feature Gloria Cassar (SK Lija) and Alanah Ghio (Hibernians) who continue to make headway for their respective teams at U19 league level. Thais Muscat (San Gwann) is also among the mix, another who has regularly also gained minutes at senior domestic level with her club. Nina-Lee Naudi is listed among the midfield, who continues life at Sampdoria in Italy at Primavera levels, while Alexis Mallia will be completing the list, hailing from Australia’s Sydney Wanderers.
In attack, Kay Axiak of Birkirkara leads the line followed by former teammate, Tea Kimamo and Shaiel Falzon, who hail from Swieqi United. Martina Vassallo is called up from San Gwann, while Olivia Mae Taylor completes the list, hailing from Hully City Ladies in England.
Style Of Play & Opposition
The team will be facing Romania, Ukraine and Moldova. Questioned about the challenges that these teams bring for Malta, Tabone’s answer summed up a main hurdle, “As always, when we face these teams, our main challenge will be the physical aspect. Most of their players will be very strong.”
Tabone’s answer comes as no surprise. The physical inferiority appears to be something that continues reverberating when national team coaches of different age groups have been questioned by The Sporting Fan. On the other hand, it is also expected that these national teams will demonstrate different football philosophies, which will challenge players’ tactical understanding and ability to solve related problems on the pitch as well.
Meanwhile, according to Clint Tabone, Maltese supporters should expect positive football from Malta’s side, “We expect our girls to play attractive football and we are confident that they are fully ready and prepared for this tournament.”
Lead Image: Malta FA
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Absolutely nobody finds it strange that no Valletta player was called up? Valletta are currently ranked 2nd in the U19 and 3rd in U16 with 4 points below the leaders. My daughter plays for Valletta so I may be biased but I think it is a fair question to ask. Why is it that when we ask the more challenging questions MFA shies away from the answers? Does coach Tesse and the other MFA coaches agree with the players called up? I hear a lot of criticism but it seems I am the only person on the island not to be afraid to speak up. Why? Are we all afraid that if we voice our opinion our kids will bear the brunt? Does MFA accept constructive criticism?