by The meet between Italy and Malta underscored the overlaps between the two nations at club level, with several Maltese players making their way to Italy’s outfits. Questioned about this, Andrea Soncin & Manuela Tesse discussed the reversible impacts of domestic leagues and national teams.
Privy to the Assikura Women’s League, Manuela Tesse remarked the differences in structures between the two nations and drew from her experience when challenged about the responsibility on players. Tying the discussion, Abigail Camilleri opened up on making the selection following a push at club level.
Soncin & Tesse On Developing The Serie A & Assikura Women’s League
The Serie A is a league that continues to grow its level and attract a number of foreign talents as it fights its way to the top of the women’s football food-chain in Europe. Italy has become an increasingly popular home for Maltese players, with the links to Italian teams growing with each year, and a number of players making the top rungs.
Haley Bugeja, Rachel Cuschieri and Emma Lipman who have all competed in the Serie A, while the Primavera league has become a common pathway for promising Maltese players.
Indeed, the summer transfer window continued to feature plenty of news of Maltese players making their way to Italy. Lexine Farrugia (AS Roma), Sara Saliba (Milan), Kaysia Micallef (Sampdoria), Nina-Lee Naudi (Sampdoria) and Francesca Bartolo (Sassuolo) are all among those rising through the ranks of the Primavera selections. The overlaps between Italy and Malta continue with Kailey Willis (Venezia) and Raisa Costantino (Gelbison) among those competing in the Serie C.
Questioned about his thoughts on the impact of foreign players and the growth of the Italian leagues, in regard to national team selections, Italy’s Andrea Soncin said, “It is a good thing that players are coming from abroad so that the level continues to grow. It also allows Italian players to grow in mentality.”
However, Italy’s coach refused to comment on Maltese nationals, choosing instead to cast a wider view, “I don’t make differences between the nationalities of foreign players because each club has their own policies, but it definitely helps to grow the level and this is very good for young Italian players as well.”
Likewise, while Malta exports a number of talents abroad, the Assikura Women’s League is also playing host to a number of foreign players.
Presented a similar question to her counterpart on the impact of players moving between leagues, Manuela Tesse replied, “I think looking at clubs abroad, they are beginning to treat women’s football at the same level as the men’s, so they are building club structures to develop women’s football not just to play. Roma is one great example of this. So, for the national team it’s good to see Maltese players going into these clubs because they can develop a lot immediately, because there is the structure.”
Shifting eyes to Malta’s clubs, the Italian continued reflecting also on the work being done, “However, in this season in Malta the level is higher, because I think the players who have been in the national team have kept the confidence from the showings in the last year. They now believe that they can face all teams because they have potential. Now, I believe that they are pushing the clubs in Malta to grow to give them the opportunity to have good pitches, good staff and good training. I went around clubs and I think there is improvement in training with respect to the other season, especially the teams in the top four.”
Confidence will have certainly taken a hit following the defeat to Italy, a match where perhaps Malta faced a first mismatch between expectation and performance in recent months. However, perhaps the shift in expectation continues to underline the upward trajectory from a wider viewpoint, as underlined by Manuela Tesse’s comments in her post-match interview. The question now shifts to the reaction, whether Malta’s contingent is ready to take learnings and push forward. Even more critical, is whether there will be the required supporting structures to do so.
Notwithstanding the praise for improved sessions, there is no denying that there is a wide space for further improvement. Pushed to identify the areas needing growth to raise the league level, Tesse remarked one definite requirement, “I think developing the coaching is an area we need to grow in, because then we can help the players.”
Challenging The Bottom-Up Approach
Asked about the fact that in most cases it has been the players that have had to push for improvements, Tesse reflected on her own journey in the women’s game.
She said, “I think we can compare Malta like it was ten to fifteen years ago in Italy, when I was a player. We had the same battle, we were asking for good coaches, to train to improve.”
However, the Italian remarked that there has already been proof that players can reach the levels, “The great thing is that through what we saw in preparing to face Bosnia & Herzegovina and Portugal, we have the metrics that show that our players have the potential to reach the same levels as players in these nations, with the right training. So, it is not about the country, it is about players getting the right level of training, whether they are in Malta or abroad.”
The need for the level of training to increase is an easy one to understand from the realities that the only way to compete with teams at a higher level is to match them. As soon as Malta went into League B territory, the teams battled against featured fully professional sides, whose players and coaches are dedicated to football.
However, the majority of the Maltese selection features players who must still balance the demands of a full-time job, no matter how much they wish to put in extra training sessions. This has been an element that has featured in several interviews over the past years and one that not only affects female footballers in Malta, but many other athletes who in the end are held back by the lack of supporting structures in the country. Furthermore, this is also true for the majority of the coaching staff forming part of the national team.
Rewarding Efforts
While the bar for the national team continues to be raised and the need for structures to rise to meet it, there is an increasing demand for Maltese players to push themselves to keep up with it.
As noted above, as the national team continues to push forward, the disparity among players continues to increase, between those consistently striving to make the national team selections and those who approach the sport with an amateur mentality that in truth, Malta’s league itself sets as its requirement.
As this gap between players grows, several who have been on the fringes or have never made the national selection, but wish to do so, may feel that the bar to get into the national team has become too high.
However, repeatedly questioned about selections in each international window, Manuela Tesse has continued to maintain that the door is open for those hitting the three elements of performance, form and physical fitness. Malta’s selection in this international window brought several changes, including a first call-up to long-time Mgarr United servant, Abigail Camilleri.
Probed about seeing her name on the list, Camilleri alluded to the efforts put in to get to this point, “I worked a lot in the past months to get to be the best I can be for Mgarr United. It was a surprise to get selected with the national team, but of course it is a nice surprise.”
Questioned about the experience in training with the national team selection, the defender continued, “The level is higher in every sense. The coach is very clear on what she wants, the level of the training is of course more organised and there’s more technical staff. It was a great experience overall and it motivates you to keep working to be the best you can be at club level and also to fight for more opportunities to be with the national team.”
Return To The Leagues
The international window concludes tonight, before players return to club duties. Italy’s Serie A returns on Saturday, kicked off by the clash between Lazio and Como Women at 20:30. Haley Bugeja returns with Inter on Sunday in a lunch-time kick-off (12:30) with the side travelling to meet Fiorentina.
In England, the Barclays Women’s Championship will kick-off with Maria Farrugia’s side Sheffield United welcoming the London City Lionesses at Bramall Lane on Saturday at 14:00. The Barclays Women’s Super League returns on Sunday 3rd November, with the clash between Manchester United and Arsenal at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium (12:30).
In Malta, Abigail Camilleri returns with Mgarr United in an always hotly-anticipated clash against Hibernians, with the latter currently topping the table. They will meet at Mgarr Ground on Friday, November 1st at 20:30.
The match between Mgarr United and Hibernians was originally due to be played at the expansive Centenary Stadium. Questioned about the change, the Malta Football Association (MFA) formally communicated that it is due to a UEFA pitch test that is scheduled at the stadium and was only recently communicated by the European body. The Victor Tedesco Stadium is expected to undergo a similar test the day before.
November 1st will also feature the match between San Gwann and Mtarfa, to be played at the Victor Tedesco Stadium at 20:30. Saturday presents a double-header at Mgarr Ground, starting with the match between Valletta and Swieqi United (14:00), that will be followed by Birkirkara against Lija Athletic (16:30).
Lead Image: Lara Schembri
Make sure to never miss an Assikura Women’s League match by syncing your calendar here.
Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X
