Farrugia names squad for Kosovo, Faroe Islands matches

Defender Zach Muscat, who plays for Italian Serie C club Pistoiese, and winger Luke Gambin, currently on the books of English League Two side Crawley Town, are making a return to the national team’s fold after both missed last month’s away matches against Kosovo and Azerbaijan.

Hibernians midfielder Dunstan Vella and Kyrian Nwoko, the Valletta striker, both key members of the Malta Under-21 team that concluded their 2019 UEFA Under-21 Championship Group Six qualifiers with a 2-1 win over Hungary and a 1-1 draw against Cyprus, have earned a call-up to the senior squad.

Vella and Nwoko join former Malta Under-21 team-mates Joseph Mbong (Hibernians), Juan Corbalan (Gżira United) and Jake Grech (Birkirkara), with the latter three players having been part of the senior squad for last month’s UEFA Nations League games away to Kosovo (1-3) and Azerbaijan (1-1).

Farrugia, who has also awarded a recall to experienced Valletta defender Jonathan Caruana, explained that he and his coaching team have selected 26 players as defenders Andrei Agius, of Hibernians, and Steve Borg, of Valletta, are suspended for the November 17 game against Kosovo while there are also a number of players with one yellow card.

“We have called 26 players as Andrei and Steve will miss the match against Kosovo due to suspension and we have other players who are one yellow card,” Farrugia told www.mfa.com.mt.

“We have selected players who bring different qualities to the team to enhance our versatility as these two games are likely to provide different challenges based on the characteristics of Kosovo and Faroe Islands.

“Zach Muscat and Luke Gambin are back in the squad, which is a positive thing for us, and we have also called two more young players, Dunstan Vella and Kyrian Nwoko, who already know the set-up as they were with us for the training camp in Austria in May.

“There is also a recall for Jonathan Caruana who brings a lot of experience at international level.”

Malta host Kosovo, the leaders of Group D3 with eight points, on Saturday, November 17 (kick-off 18.00) followed three days later by another home match against Faroe Islands (kick-off 20.45).

In their last outing, Malta held Azerbaijan to a 1-1 draw at the Olympic Stadium in Baku.

MALTA SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS
Henry Bonello (Valletta); Andrew Hogg (Hibernians); Steve Sultana (Balzan).

DEFENDERS
Andrei Agius (Hibernians)*; Ferdinando Apap (Victoria Hotspurs); Steve Borg (Valletta)*; Ryan Camilleri (Valletta); Jonathan Caruana (Valletta); Clayton Failla (Floriana); Joseph Mbong (Hibernians); Zach Muscat (US Pistoiese, Italy); Joseph Zerafa (Valletta).

MIDFIELDERS
Roderick Briffa (Gżira United); Juan Corbalan (Gżira United); Paul Fenech (Birkirkara); Jake Grech (Birkirkara); Bjorn Kristensen (Hibernians); Rowen Muscat (Valletta); Stephen Pisani (Floriana); Dunstan Vella (Hibernians).

FORWARDS
Andrew Cohen (Gżira United); Alfred Effiong (Balzan); Luke Gambin (Crawley Town, England); Michael Mifsud (Birkirkara); Kyrian Nwoko (Valletta); Andrè Schembri (Apollon Limassol, Cyprus).

*Andrei Agius and Steve Borg are suspended for the Kosovo match but will be eligible to play against Faroe Islands

 TICKET INFO

The sale of tickets for the UEFA Nations League matches against Kosovo and Faroe Islands is underway.

The match ticket prices are €10 for the West Stand (children – €5) and €5 for the Millennium Stand (children – €2).