The Malta U-21 national team are set to resume their preparations for their upcoming 2023 U-21 European qualification with an international friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina at the National Stadium in Ta’ Qali, today (kick-off: 6pm).

This will be the third international appointment of the year for Silvio Vella’s clan after their two friendlies against Turkmenistan (2-1) and Kosovo (0-1) during their training camp in Turkey, last March.

Heading into this fixture, coach Vella is expecting his players to showcase their talent as this will be their final test before the qualifiers.

“We are looking to gain benefits from this fixture as it will enable us to prepare for our upcoming qualification campaign,” Vella told the Times of Malta.

“The month of June is always a crucial period for the players because they are on the back of a long season and it is important that they stay in touch in terms of training.”

To tackle this situation, Vella gathered the team for the past three weeks where they have been focusing on fitness training so that they would be on a uniform level ahead of this game, in particular because the squad is a mix of players who played regularly and others who struggled in terms of minutes during the last club campaign.

“We have been focusing on the physical aspect of training because we need to take into account that not most of our players played regularly in the Premier League,” Vella added.

“Moreover, it is important to have these type of games because they will give us an indication of where our team stands right now.”

Breakthrough

Asked about his thoughts related to the number of minutes played by young players in the top-flight, Vella was satisfied that a number of players were making the breakthrough but insisted that there need to be further inject of youth on the field.

“The national team should be the platform for players who have regular minutes with their club,” the former Rabat Ajax coach said.

“However, the tendency is changing especially due to the influx of foreigners in our league.

“The situation has become a bit contradictory as now the national team is serving a different purpose, that of giving the chance to the youths to showcase themselves in an attempt to gain more regular minutes with their clubs.”

Meanwhile, Vella has named Ayrton Attard, who featured mostly for the Birkirkara U-19s this season but has also two appearances for the senior side, replacing the injured Marcus Grima. In addition, there is also Sliema Wanderers’ Omar Elouni who will replace Paul Mbong of Birkirkara.

The U-21 selection will kickstart their qualifying campaign next September with a double-header away to Northern Ireland and Ukraine in a group that Vella has deemed as “very tough”.

In fact, Malta were also drawn alongside Denmark and Romania, two participants in this month’s U-21 championships that will be held in Italy and San Marino.

“The Bosnia test will be important because it will be similar to the one we had against Kosovo as I feel they are two similar teams,” Vella explained.

“On a technical level, I feel Bosnia could be even better and that will be the type of level that we will face in the qualifiers so it is important to have positive indications from this match.”

Bosnia have already opened their qualifying campaign, easing past Moldova 4-0 and will be looking to stamp their mark in this game ahead of their next preliminaries that will see them cross swords with two heavyweights in Belgium and Germany.

THE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Timothy Aquilina (Sliema Wanderers); Andreas Vella (Mosta).
Defenders: Jean Borg, Nicholas Pulis (both Valletta); Kurt Shaw, Michele Sansone (both Sliema Wanderers); Zachary Grech (Pembroke Athleta); Connor Zammit (Hibernians).
Midfielders: Myles Beerman (Rangers, Scotland); Gary Camilleri (Senglea Athletic); Neil Frendo (OFK Beograd, Serbia); Russell Fenech (Sirens); David Xuereb (Hibernians); Aidan Friggieri (St Andrews); Jan Tanti (San Ġwann); Zack Cassar (Senglea Athletic); Aryton Attard (both Birkirkara).
Forwards: Jan Busuttil (Pietà Hotspurs); Zach Brincat (Mosta); Omar Elouni (Sliema Wanderers).