Daniel Bogdanovic 'reappears' to join Malta squad

Daniel Bogdanovic, so much in the spotlight in the last few weeks, linked up with his Malta team-mates yesterday afternoon after arriving in the morning.

Bogdanovic has been at the centre of attention in the local sporting media after it was reported that his publicised move from Valletta to ChernoMore Varna had hit a snag after the player failed to return in time to sign his release documents.

Valletta claimed that they were unable to contact Bogdanovic, triggering doubts about his whereabouts. However, the uncertainty about Bogdanovic's whereabouts was ended yesterday when the lanky Yugoslav-born striker landed in Malta on a flight from Istanbul, Turkey.

"All I can say is that I was not familiar with the procedure to finalise my release from my previous club. At present, discussions between Valletta and ChernoMore are still going on," Bogdanovic told The Times a few hours after his arrival at the Malta International Airport where he was greeted by Ronnie Attard, the MFA national teams' co-ordinator.

"As far as I'm concerned, I have signed a two-and-a-half year contract with ChernoMore Varna. I came from Turkey where the team had a training camp but I will fly to Bulgaria soon after Wednesday's match," the 22-year-old international said.

Bogdanovic and Simon Vella, the Airdrie United defender who was due to arrive yesterday evening, are the only foreign-based players called by Sigfried Held for tomorrow's friendly. Lokomotiv Sofia midfielder Stefan Giglio, who is currently injured, and Michael Mifsud, the Kaiserslautern striker, were not called by Held for disciplinary reasons.

Giglio and Mifsud incurred Held's wrath after they missed the 2-0 win over a Balearic Islands selection in December.

The Maltese squad gathered at the Coastline Hotel after their training session last night. The Kazakhstan contingent arrived in Malta yesterday morning.

Darren Debono pulled out of the squad yesterday. The Valletta central defender has not recovered fully from injury.