by Group leaders Valletta will take on second-placed San Gwann in the bottom-four section of the Assikura Women’s League tonight at the Victor Tedesco Stadium (20:30). Valletta’s Chris Vella and San Gwann’s Julian Camilleri weighed in on developing players to compete at international level, while setting sights on tonight’s match.
Important Victories
The two teams headed into the international break on a high. Valletta maintained their unbeaten streak with a dominant performance against Mtarfa, while San Gwann won the direct confrontation against Lija Athletic by 2-1.
Asked about the unbeaten streak in view of the team’s objectives for the final phase of the league, Valletta’s team manager Chris Vella said, “We were very pleased with the team’s last performance. After the league was split, our prime targets were to keep improving as a team and to not drop any points in this round, meaning winning all games. It is something we have achieved until now.”
On the other hand, Julian Camilleri spoke of the team’s victory against Lija Athletic in view of the team’s improvement throughout the season. He said, “We’ve improved a lot in our performances, especially in our shape as a team. We are keeping possession more, making better decisions on attacks and remaining compact. There’s still much more to do, but it’s a good foundation to build on.”
Building For The Future
The international break provided more spotlight on the senior national women’s team who continued to display good showings in their friendly matches, while the U17 national women’s side was also involved in the Round 2 of the UEFA Women’s U17 EURO Qualifications in Malta.
Asked about the reward of seeing players’ form take them into the national teams, Valletta’s Chris Vella weighed in, “Obviously for us it’s a thrilling and prestigious thing to have players called up for the national team. It shows that these youngsters are being acknowledged and rewarded for all the hard work they put in.”
Vella also commented on the effect of the lack of age groups competing between the U17 and the senior team in the past few windows, “Unfortunately the way the age groups are split tends to work against most of our promising players. The gap between the U17 and the senior squad is too big. This is resulting in most of the youngsters who are just past 17 finding it difficult to find space and playing time at international level. Hopefully maybe we get to see an U21 squad in the near future where these players can get the exposure they need to transition into the senior squad.”
Meanwhile, San Gwann’s Julian Camilleri also expressed the joy of seeing players getting the call-up, “I think every coach is proud when they see their players called up with the national teams. This time, we had one player called up to the U17 squad (Thais Muscat).” Meanwhile, probed about the utilisation of the international break with players remaining with the club, Camilleri replied, “The break provided time for us to focus on technique and to prepare for the upcoming match.”
Match Expectations
Although Valletta have shut out their opposition, the previous match was a close one in the score, with Valletta just managing to secure a 1-0 victory. However, this time the teams will come into it fresher from the break.
Asked about the possibility of dominating the match in view of their players being more rested, Valletta’s Chris Vella was cautious in his reply but confirmed the desire to win, “San Gwann play quite a physical game and are always a tough nut to crack. As you mentioned the international break gave us some much needed rest and this will be a bonus. Obviously, without underestimating our opponents, the aim is to come out of this game with the three points, without wasting scoring opportunites and thus achieve a better scoreline than our last encounter.”
Meanwhile, Julian Camilleri and his team are motivated to improve on their previous showing, “I think in my opinion our performance was better than Valletta’s in the previous match. However, we made a lot of mistakes in the final third, missed opportunities to score and it cost us the three points. We’ve worked on these mistakes since and I think we are prepared to bring home a deserved result. The team which makes the least mistakes will win.”
The two teams will play out the encounter at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, at 20:30.
Lead Images: Lara Schembri
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