A young Maltese defender will be wearing the legendary black and white of Juventus next season after signing a contract with the Italian club's youth team.
Nicole Sciberras, 18, put pen to paper on a one-year deal with Juventus Women Primavera.
She is the first Maltese to ever form part of Juventus.
The Primavera team last year won the first edition of the prestigious Viareggio tournament for women’s teams and also made it to the Final Four for the Scudetto, ultimately won by Inter.
At senior level, Juventus, who entered the Serie A Femminile in 2017, have won the last two straight championships.
Their strong women's team was reflected in Italy's impressive Women's World Cup run, with the Azzurre captained by Juventus stalwart Sara Gama and featuring many Juventus players.
Sciberras told Times of Malta she was very excited about the move.
“I believe that it is a step forward in my football career which will continue to help me grow in this sport, of course.
“I am really thankful for this opportunity and I will strive to make the most of such an amazing experience.”
This will be Sciberras’ third season in Italy, although it will be her first at youth level.
She spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns in Serie C, Italy’s third-tier, at Grifone Gialloverde who came close to secure promotion into Serie B, only to be pipped by Napoli last season.
With the Rome-based club, Sciberras featured 39 times, scoring also one goal.
Prior to that, she was on Mosta's books and represented the Blues from 2011 to 2017 in both the youth and senior categories.
The 18-year-old defender made 34 appearances for Mosta in the BOV Women’s League, finding the net on three occasions as well.
Versatile and smart
Sciberras, whose versatility and football IQ enables her to play also in the midfield department, is one of the new faces of the Malta national team under the guidance of coach Mark Gatt.
Gatt handed Sciberras her Malta debut in February 2018, in a friendly match against Estonia on home soil.
She has six caps under her belt and she will be one of the players on which Gatt will bank when Malta open their Women’s Euro 2021 qualifiers against Denmark, on August 29, and Bosnia-Herzegovina five days later.
Incidentally, one of the Malta’s opponents in these qualifiers will be Italy, a team comprised mainly of Juventus players.
The former Mosta player has been part of the Malta national team set-up since a young age and has represented her the country at U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-19 levels.
Photo courtesy: Joe Borg/Malta FA.