January 2007
Wed 31
- Nigerian defender Precious Monye will be making his return for Birkirkara after joining the club till the end of the season.
Despite some fine performances which helped Birkirkara clinch the title last season, Monye was released in June among fears that a serious injury would rule him out for a long period. The other two foreigners on the club's books last season - goalkeeper David Simon and defender Emil Yantchev were also released.
In summer, the Stripes signed four new foreigners - Polish goalkeeper Andrzej Bledzewski, Italian defender Guido Gallovich, Italian midfielder Angelo Paradiso and Moroccan midfielder Hatim Sbai. However Sbai, Paradiso and finally Gallovich all had their contract terminated. Meanwhile in November, the club signed Argentine striker Ruben Dario Larossa. However after playing a couple of matches, an injury ruled him out for over ten weeks.
The signing of Precious Monye will definitely give coach Stephen Azzopardi more options in defence.
Thirty-two year old Monye, who had played for Fehervar 96, Ujpesti and Videoton in Hungary, Reggiana and Cosenza in Italy and UT Arad in Romania, first arrived in Malta in January 2004.
- Four Premier League players were handed a one-match ban by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner following last weekend's matches.
Sliema Wanderers were hit worse as they had two players suspended Clifton Ciantar and Jeffrey Chetcuti. Both will miss the next game against Marsaxlokk on Friday.
Nigerian midfielder Edafe Uzeh is ruled out from Valletta's next game against Marsa on Saturday while Ryan Newell of Floriana will be missing the next game against Pietà.
In Division 1, Hamrun's Evano Briffa was suspended for one match while Senglea team-manager Stephen Perici was suspended for four matches.
Second Division side Sta. Venera Lightnings had four players suspended. Roderick Farrugia and Andrew Hili were both banned for two matches while Dylan Mercieca and Mark Muscat were suspended for one match. Michael Ciappara (Birzebbuga), Geoffrey Farrugia (Gudja), John Cauchi (Lija), Matthew Borg I (Melita), Josef Felice and Joseph Mallia (Zebbug) were all handed a one-match ban. Mellieha kit-manager Jason Gauci was suspended for two matches.
In Division 3, Manolito Zammit (Siggiewi) was suspended for two matches while Christian Cristiano (Ghaxaq), Winston Fenech (Qrendi), Martin Portelli, Antoine Muscat and Mark Drago (all Xghajra) were banned for one match. Gharghur team-manager Eugenio Gauci was suspended for two matches.
In the Youth League, Tarquine Schembri (Birzebbuga) was suspended for four months while Mead Mifsud (Hamrun), James Borg and Matthew Scerri (Mosta), Nathan Caruana (Sliema) and George Portelli (Rabat) were handed a one-match ban.
Tue 30
- To mark the occasion of Malta's debut in international football with the memorable friendly home match against Austria at the Empire Stadium, Stadium, Gzira on the 24th February 1957, the MFA has published a handsome souvenir book.
The publication '50 Years of International Football' is an informative review of Malta's international participation extending to 283 national 'A' team friendly and competitive matches, with comments on a number of our national team's games included in the panorama of Malta' football history.
The book is lavishly illustrated and evokes memories of several episodes in our international trek, including the latest victory against Hungary in a Euro qualifier which Malta won last October, besides those of prestigious home matches against England, Italy, West Germany and Spain, among others.
There are also statistics of all our matches and players' appearances for Malta and information on our international matches of different categories as well as results of our teams' participation in European competitions since season 1961-1962.
The souvenir carries messages from MFA President, Dr Joe Mifsud, Joseph Blatter FIFA President and UEFA Honorary President, Lennart Johansson.
The publication was jointly produced by chairman and MFA vice-president John Farrugia, Albert Fenech (Editor), Benny Pace and Joe Sacco, with Louis Micallef being responsible for the coordination.
This book, a must for every collector's shelves, is selling at Lm 3.00 and is available from the Reception Desk at the MFA Headquarters, 280 St Paul's Street, Valletta, and from Dominic Anastasi (Panini) and Geraldu Kiosk retail outlets in Valletta.
- Following the departure of Argentine forward Sebastian Monesterolo, Valletta signed a striker from the Netherlands Antilles.
Twenty-four year old Richmar Simon Sabino Siberie, better known as Rocky Siberie, will replace the prolific Argentine striker who had scored sixteen goals this season.
Rocky Siberie played for Cambuur Leeuwarden in Holland before moving to St. Pauli in the Regionalliga Nord in Germany. Following a short spell with NK Maribor in Slovenia in season 2005/06, he moved to Wuppertaler SV Borussia, another club which plays in the Regionalliga Nord in Germany.
This season, he scored three goals in twelve matches.
Siberie should join Serbian defender Branko Nisevic and Nigerian midfielder Edafe Uzeh as the club's third foreigner.
Meanwhile Sebastian Monesterolo left Malta on Tuesday morning after signing for Kuwait Sporting Club during the weekend.
Monesterolo signed a six-month contract with the club getting an option to sign the player for another two years.
Mon 29
- Second Division Rabat A. vs Gozo 2-1, Sta. Venera L. vs Mellieha 1-3
- Hamrun Spartans FC Youth Nursery, with the approval of the MFA Amateur, Youth and Grassroots Committee, will be organising the sixth edition of the Tony Bajada Memorial Football Tournament between April 4th and 10th at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, Hamrun.
The tournament, sponsored by Globalair Travel, Pepsi, Colgate and the Hamrun Local Council, will be open for four categories:
Category A: Under-6 (children born after 1st January 2000);
Category B: Under-8 (children born after 1st January 1998);
Category C: Under-10 (children born after 1st January 1996);
Category D: Under-13 (children born after 1st January 1993).
In category A, games will be on a seven-a-side basis with 15 minutes each half; in categories B and C, games will be on a seven-a-side basis with 20 minutes each half while in category D, game will be on an eleven-a-side basis with 25 minutes each half.
Each nursery taking part in the tournament will be asked for the YFA/MFA ID cards of the registered players as the tournament gets underway.
Foreign teams could take part in the tournament as well.
The registration fee for teams in categories A, B and C are Lm 35 each and Lm 50 for category D.
Interested nurseries should send the application form the Hamrun Spartans YN secretary, 'Centru Tony Bajada', Hamrun Sports Complex, Triq Mile End Hamrun or phone 21251483/79496363/99478302, by not later than March 2nd.
Sun 28
- Premier League Floriana vs St. George's 3-0, Pietà H. vs Birkirkara 1-4
- First Division Tarxien R. vs Naxxar L. 3-1, Senglea A. vs Hamrun S. 1-2
- Second Division Birzebbuga SP vs Dingli S. 2-3, Zebbug R. vs Melita 0-1
- Third Division Siggiewi vs Xghajra T. 2-1, Pembroke A. vs Kirkop U. 3-0
- Gozo - First Division Xewkija T. vs Sannat L. 0-0, Qala SJ vs Nadur Y. 0-3
- The programme of activities to mark 50 years of international football participation was launched during a press conference which was held at the Centenary Hall on Sunday. The press conference was followed by the official opening of a exhibition of memorabilia linked to the national team over the past fifty years.
Speaking during the press conference, MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud said this programme of activities coincides with the election of the association's president to the UEFA Executive Committee for another four-year term.
Malta played the first international game against Austria on February 24th, 1957. This international game also paved the way for Malta's application for membership within UEFA.
Discussions with the FA of Austria started two years ago with the aim of setting up a friendly match between the two countries to mark this 50th anniversary of international participation.
The Malta Football Association started working on several other activities to link with this anniversary. These include a gala reception, an exhibition at the Centenary Hall, the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the National Stadium, the publication of a souvenir book and a souvenir programme for the game and a drawing competition.
All players who have played for the national team for the past fifty years, including those who played in the first game between Malta and Austria, have been invited for the gala reception which will be held on Monday 5th at the Millennium Stand. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will be attending as well for the gala event.
A souvenir book named "50 years of International Football" has been published. The book was due to be written by the late Lewis Portelli but then an editorial board made up of Albert Fenech, Joe Sacco, Benny Pace and Louis Micallef, under the chairmanship of MFA vice-president John Farrugia, was in charge of the publication of this souvenir book.
A logo for the event has also been designed by Mr Joe Micallef.
A drawing competition for Year 6 students was launched last year with the main objective being that of encouraging children to follow more the national team and local football. Angelique Borg from the Antonio Sciortino Primary School, Zebbug placed first. Leandro Debono (Patri Felic Sammut Primary School, St. Paul's Bay) and Claudia Portelli (Laura Vicuna Primary School, Ghasri) placed second and third respectively. The three drawings are also part of the exhibition which was officially opened by MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud after the press conference.
For the game against Austria which will be played on Wednesday 7th February, the Maltese national team will be wearing a special Diadora kit. Speaking on behalf of kit sponsors Teamsport, Jonathan Darmanin said that a set of kits similar to those used in the game against Austria in 1957 were produced. Players will be wearing a red shirt and white shorts while the goalkeeper will be wearing a black kit.
This limited edition kit - a collector's item - will be available for sale from the Teamsport outlets in Iklin and Sliema. Three hundred numbered kits are available.
Speaking about the game, Malta coach Dusan Fitzel said the players need to be fully focussed in view of the EURO 2008 qualifiers against Moldova and Greece.
"Hopefully celebrations will not affect the players' performance," said Fitzel.
Andre Schembri is the only player who is ruled out of the game. Although the player is ready to start training, he will not be match-fit.
The game between Malta and Austria will kick-off at 18:00. The game will be controlled by referee Carlo Bartolini from the Swiss FA. He will be assisted by Ingmar Spiteri and Alan Camilleri and fourth official Joseph Attard.
Match ticket prices are as follows: West Sides A & C - Upper - Lm 10;
West Sides A & C - Lower - Lm 4;
Millennium Stand - Lm 3;
Ladies, Children (Under 11), Kartanzjan Holders and Persons with Special Needs Card Holders and Persons on Wheelchair (in Millennium Stand only) - Lm 2.
Pre-Sale of tickets starts on Friday 2nd and will continue up to mid-day on match-day on Wednesday. The following are the Authorized Ticket Retailers: Geraldu Kiosk (Republic Street, Valletta); Eros Stationery (Wilga Street, Paceville), Star Tourism (Pioneer Road, Bugibba) and the National Stadium.
Tickets will also be available at the gates just before the match. The gates at the National Stadium will open at 17:00.
Entertainment will be provided by a number of singers, namely Kimberly Galea, Natasha and Charlene, Hooligan, J Anvil and the top placed singers in the Malta Song for Europe Contest. The entertainment is being provided by Events Services. Peter Busuttil and Colin Fitz will be Master of Ceremonies.
Public transport will be available from City Gate, Valletta starting at 16:00 and back from the National Stadium at around 19:45.
Meanwhile on Tuesday 6th February, the Malta Under-21 side will be playing a friendly match against Finland. The game will be played at the Hibernians Ground, kick-off at 15:00.
Under-21 coach Mark Miller said that since the team has no competitive matches this season, such friendly matches are something to look forward to for the players in the Under-21 side.
The game will be controlled by referee Chris Lautier, assisted by assistant referees Joe Camilleri and Mariano Debono and fourth official Marco Borg.
After the press-conference, MFA prsident Dr Joe Mifsud officially inaugurated an exhibition to mark the 50 years of participational in international football.
The exhibition at the Centenary Hall consists of t-shirts, photos, souvenir programmes, match-tickets, banners and other memorabilia linked to the national team.
It will be open for the general public between Monday 29th January and Friday 2nd February between 17:00 and 20:00; Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th between 09:00 and 12:00, 14:00 and 20:00; Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th between 17:00 and 20:00 and Wednesday 7th between 14:00 and 17:00.
- Nigerian striker Ikechukwu Chibueze passed away on Saturday at the age of 23.
The player died at St. Luke's Hospital after he was admitted yesterday evening suffering from heart problems.
Chibueze arrived in Malta six years ago. His first club was Zebbug Rovers. He moved to Mqabba in Division 1 in summer 2002 and was an immediate hit. Two years later, he joined Mosta with whom he won promotion to the Premier League. After playing with the Blues in the Premier League last season, he returned with Mqabba this season.
May God grant him eternal rest.
Sat 27
- Premier League Hibernians vs Marsaxlokk 2-2, Sliema W. vs Valletta 1-0
- Second Division Balzan Y. vs St. Andrews 0-0, Lija A. vs Gudja U. 3-0
- Gozo - Second Division St. Lawrence S. vs Victoria H. 0-2, Oratory Y. vs SK Victoria W. 1-2
- Gozitan champions Nadur Youngsters have secured the services of Czech midfielder Zdenek Svoboda from Sliema Wanderers.
Svoboda could make his debut for Nadur on Sunday in the game against Qala St. Joseph.
Nadur are strengthening their squad in order to defend their title. They are currently second, one point behind Onvol First Division leaders Sannat Lions.
Thirty-four year old Svoboda, who is a former Czech international player, played for 1.FC Brunn and AC Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic, KVC Westerlo in Belgium and BV Cloppenburg in Germany, before joining Sliema Wanderers this summer.
Fri 26
- Third Division Gharghur vs Qrendi 1-1, Ghaxaq vs Mgarr U. 0-3
- MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud was re-elected to the UEFA Executive Committee in the elections which were held at the XXXI Ordinary UEFA Congress in Dusseldorf, Germany on Friday.
For Dr Mifsud it was yet another successful venture to obtain a seat in the highest UEFA echelons. His will be a four-year term after having been on the Executive Committee since 1994. At the end of this new term, Dr Mifsud, 56, will have been in UEFA top committee for a staggering 17 years and surely one of the longest-serving members in this post.
Dr Mifsud, is married to Angela and has four daughters. He graduated as a lawyer in 1975, but had long been working in football administration. He became MFA President in 1992 and under his leadership, the MFA made big strides forward in all sectors of administration.
Mifsud was one of five Executive Committee members who were seeking re-election. Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain) and Senes Erzik (Turkey) were also re-elected but Eggert Magnusson (Iceland) and Giangiorgio Spiess (Switzerland) were voted off.
Mircea Sandu of Romania, Gilberto Madail of Portugal and Grigoriy Surkis of Ukraine were also elected to the committee. Executive Committee members will be serving four-year terms, between 2007 and 2011.
Meanwhile Michel Platini has been elected as President of UEFA. The 51-year-old former France midfielder was elected by Europe's 52 national football associations at the XXXI Ordinary UEFA Congress in Dusseldorf, Germany on Friday.
Platini received 27 votes, while the incumbent UEFA President Lennart Johansson received 23 votes. Johansson has been serving as UEFA president since 1990 when he was elected for the first time as president in a UEFA congress which was held in Malta.
The terms of office of four European members of the FIFA Executive Committee were also expiring. Elected UEFA President Michel Platini will automatically become an ex-officio vice-president of the FIFA Executive Committee, succeeding Lennart Johansson. Of the other two vice-president positions, one was filled by Angel María Villar Llona (Spain) who was re-elected by acclamation. The other seat will be occupied by a representative of the four British associations – England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales - and it is up to these associations to nominate their representative for the next four-year term.
Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) was also elected as a member of the FIFA Executive Committee by the acclaim of the Congress.
During the congress, UEFA decided to consider the possibility of making the UEFA European Championship final round a 24-team competition after its member associations backed a proposal for an immediate feasibility study into the tournament's expansion.
The Scottish Football Association proposal came with the support of the Football Association of Ireland, Latvian Football Federation and Swedish Football Association. It argued that expanding the EURO would give greater meaning to the qualifying round. In addition, a 24-team tournament would be more attractive to sponsors and television companies as well as spreading the distribution of revenues among a greater number of countries.
The Football Association of Montenegro was awarded full membership of UEFA following a vote by the member associations. However, the Football Association of Gibraltar's bid for membership was rejected.
The congress approved a series of amendments to UEFA's statutes, including a reinforcement of UEFA's objectives; a definition of fair play; stipulations dealing with UEFA's relationship with European football's stakeholders; and a more comprehensive definition of associations' rights and duties. It also approved UEFA's financial report for 2005-06 and budget for 2007-08, as well as the HatTrick programme for 2008-12 which will make €450m available to the member associations.
- The Malta Football Coaches Association will be organising an instructional meeting for all its members.
The meeting will be held next Monday 29th January, 2007 at the Juventus Club in M. Spinelli Street Birkirkara and will commence at 19:30.
Thu 25
- Malta signed the UEFA Grassroots Charter at a ceremony in Dusseldorf, Germany on Wednesday. This charter marks UEFA's crucial commitment to strengthening football's grassroots.
Besides Malta, Finland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Wales have also signed this charter, therefore joining another six associations - England, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Scotland (the five pilot associations) and Denmark, who joined in 2006, as signatories of the charter. Wednesday's event marks another important step forward for UEFA in its pioneering grassroots football activities, and shows that a series of regional workshops in this area, staged in the past year, have borne considerable fruit.
UEFA's grassroots work, spearheaded by its football development division under the leadership of UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh, is based on the viewpoint that football can only flourish at the highest levels if the game's basis is in healthy condition.
UEFA's Executive Committee approved the creation of a Grassroots Charter in 2004, and the charter has been taken up with great enthusiasm. Signing the charter means that a national association satisfies certain basic minimum criteria.
Associations enter with basic one-star status, and additional stars are given in relation to specific grassroots areas - these include the nurturing of women's and girls' football, social programmes, including disability football, number of participants, and the promotion of grassroots football. Up to seven stars are possible, which would mean that a national association pursues even more comprehensive grassroots policies.
- Valletta striker Sebastian Monesterolo is set to join a club in the first division of Kuwait.
The Argentine striker left Malta on Wednesday in order to discuss personal terms after the club made a formal offer for the player. Contacts were established through a Dutch-based football agent.
Monesterolo was an immediate hit when he arrived in Malta last year. After playing for Boca Juniors, Banfield, San Francisco de Cordoba and Juventud Unida in Argentina, he joined Valletta in January 2006. He scored eleven goals in twelve league matches. This season, he is the top scorer with sixteen goals.
Since Monesterolo is still under contract with Valletta, the Citizens have the right to receive compensation if the player agrees to move to the club from Kuwait.
- Malta international midfielder Peter Pullicino joined BOV Premier League leaders Marsaxlokk from Msida St. Joseph. Pullicino signed a three-and-a-half year contract.
Thirty-year old Australian-born Pullicino arrived in Malta in summer 2001, joining Hibernians. After playing for five years with the Paolites, he moved to Msida this summer.
As part of Pullicino's transfer to Marsaxlokk, former Malta Under-21 midfielder Shaun Bajada will join Msida on loan till the end of the season.
A product of Floriana, Shaun Bajada made his Premier League debut during season 2001/02. In January 2005, he was transferred to Marsaxlokk. He featured quite regularly until last season.
However this season, he was only included in the starting line-up in a couple of games.
- Hibernians midfielder Antoine Zahra will be joining St. George's on loan till the end of the season.
A product of Floriana, Zahra had joined Hibernians in summer 2001. He was a regular choice for the Paolites until the end of season 2004/05. However due to injuries, he only played a handful of matches over the past eighteen months.
- BOV First Division side Mosta secured the services of another experienced player as they signed Charles Sciberras from Msida St. Joseph.
A product of Gzira United, Sciberras played for Floriana between 1989 and 2003, except for one season with Rabat Ajax (1990/91). He moved to Msida St. Joseph in Division 1 in January 2003.
Mosta have already signed Nigerian striker Anthony Ewurum and Daniel Theuma in their bid to avoid relegation to Division 2.
Wed 24
- Elections for UEFA president and for the UEFA Executive Committee are the main items on the agenda at the XXXI Ordinary UEFA Congress, which opens in Dusseldorf, Germany on Thursday.
Delegates from UEFA's 52 member associations will vote on Friday in the UEFA presidential election. The two candidates are current UEFA President Lennart Johansson, who has held the post since 1990, and UEFA Executive Committee member Michel Platini.
A total of 13 prominent football administrators will be running for one of the six seats on the UEFA Executive Committee for the six seats. The six seats are available for four-year terms for the period between 2007 and 2011.
Five of the Executive Committee members whose period in office is expiring are standing for re-election - Senes Erzik (Turkey), Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain), Eggert Magnusson (Iceland), Giangiorgio Spiess (Switzerland) and MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud.
Mifsud has been a UEFA Executive Committee member since 1994. He is currently UEFA Executive Committee representative of the Stadium and Security Committee, a member of the National Associations Working Group and a member of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee.
The other candidates are Gilberto Parca Madail (Portugal), Grigoriy Surkis (Ukraine), Rakhat Aliyev (Kazakhstan), Tomas Géa (Andorra), Frantisek Laurinec (Slovakia), Liutauras Varanavicius (Lithuania), Vlatko Markovic (Croatia) and Mircea Sandu (Romania).
The terms of office of four European members of the FIFA Executive Committee are also expiring. The elected UEFA President will automatically become an ex officio vice-president of the FIFA Executive Committee. Of the other vice-president positions, the one currently occupied by David H. Will (Scotland) is reserved for a representative of one of the four British associations - England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It is up to these associations to nominate this representative for the next four-year term. Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain) has applied for re-election as vice-president.
Finally, the current member position of Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder (Germany) will be contested by Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain) - provided he is not elected vice-president - and Franz Beckenbauer (Germany).
Meanwhile the Congress will be asked to approve UEFA's financial accounts, as well as the reports on recent business drawn up by the UEFA Executive Committee and Chief Executive. Various amendments to UEFA's statutes are up for approval. They include a reinforcement of UEFA's objectives, a definition of fair play, stipulations dealing with UEFA's relationship with European football's stakeholders, and a more comprehensive definition of associations' rights and duties.
Delegates will vote upon a proposal by the Scottish Football Association, supported by the FAs of Latvia, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden, for a feasibility study to be made into the possible expansion of UEFA European Championship final rounds to include 24 teams. The EURO final rounds currently comprise a 16-team field.
Finally, a vote will be taken on whether to admit two associations - the FA of Montenegro and the FA of Gibraltar - as full members of UEFA. Both have been granted provisional membership of UEFA in recent months.
- Five Premier League players were handed a one-match ban by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner following this weekend's matches.
St. George's were the worst hit as they had two players suspended - Clive Brincat and Benoir Fenech. They will be missing the games against Floriana on Sunday.
Marsa's Jean Paul Zammit is ruled out of the game against Valletta on February 3 while Tyrone Farrugia of Msida will be missing the game against Hibernians on February 2nd.
Pietà goalkeeper Andrew Hogg will be unavailable for the game against Birkirkara.
In Division 1, Vincent Camilleri (St. Patrick) and Ivan Zammit (Vittoriosa) were suspended for one match.
Gudja's Clayton Micallef and official Gordon Grech were both handed a two-match ban. Ryan Farrugia (Birzebbuga) and Mark Spacey (Gudja) were suspended for one match.
Two players - Clayton Axisa (Attard) and Chris Schembri (Sta. Lucia) - were handed a three-month ban and six-month ban respectively in Division 3. Kristian Galea (Sirens) was suspended for one match.
Youth player Philip Seguna (Zebbug) was suspended for one year while George Gribbon (Melita), Aaron Galea (Naxxar), Miguel Francica (San Gwann) and Fredrick Tabone (St. Andrews) were banned for one match.
- Malta made it another maiden on the Thursday 18th January 2007 when it competed for the first time in the 5th UEFA Futsal Championship for national teams. This baptism of fire almost coincided with our 50th anniversary of international participation in conventional 11 a-side football, an event which will be celebrated by the MFA very shortly.
This debut on the international Futsal stage may not have been conspicuous in terms of positive results as three defeats in the preliminary round Group 'C' matches against Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Georgia testified. This was not surprising when one considers that we were only entering the fray as one of the very small fry of the competition.
In any case, there had to be a beginning in this championship, and Michal Striz from the Czech Republic, appointed Futsal coach for the national team not very long ago, tried to assemble a squad capable of putting in some coherent play allied with commitment and enthusiasm in this highly intense type of football.
Ball-playing skills and constant rotation of the four outfield components of the team, plus ongoing substitutions during the course of the proceedings are vital requisites in this game.
Mastering these techniques required international participation and it was wise of the MFA to take this plunge since there cannot be any proper gauge of our standards and eventual improvement unless Malta competes against other countries.
This was evident in the tournament, since we ended up on a more encouraging note when we played Georgia in our last outing on Sunday. Our team finished the game on a crescendo and the 5-2 adverse result was somewhat flattering for the visitors given the input of our 12-strong squad during the 40 playing minutes.
Striz and the MFA vice-president Mr John Farrugia, Chairman of the Futsal Committee, acknowledged this improvement and both said that this can only come about by international participation.
Mr Farrugia also commented on the organisation of the event which was entrusted to Malta. Apart from showing his appreciation to AS Hibernians for providing the Corradino Pavilion for the staging of the tournament, he said that hosting such matches in our country will help us take stock of the situation with the aim of organising such events even better in the future.
The UEFA delegate, Mr Galannieto, was equally satisfied at the way the tournament was run, adding that this was an experience for Malta not only for the playing squad but also in matters relating to hosting Futsal international events.
Tue 23
- Malta international striker Michael Mifsud scored his first goal for Coventry on Monday in a 3-2 defeat to Plymouth.
This was the second appearance for Mifsud who was included as a substitute on the hour as he replaced Jay Tabb with the Sky Blues already trailing 3-1.
The former Sliema, Kaiserslautern and Lillestrom striker lashed home a fantastic first-time volley after Argyle failed to clear a free-kick from the right.
Mifsud hopes this goal improves his chances of being named in the starting line-up in coming games by caretaker manager Adrian Heath.
Heath replaced Micky Adams who was sacked following the 0-2 defeat to Bristol City in the FA Cup.
Mon 22
- Third Division Zurrieq vs Sirens 1-0, Attard vs Ta' Xbiex 8-0
Sun 21
- Premier League Marsa vs Pietà H. 3-5, St. George's vs Msida SJ 1-1
- First Division Vittoriosa S. vs Qormi 0-1, St. Patrick vs Mosta 1-1
- Second Division Birzebbuga SP vs Balzan Y. 0-2, Sta. Venera L. vs Dingli S. 0-5, Gozo vs Mellieha 1-2
- Third Division Luqa SA vs Zejtun C. 4-2, Sta. Lucia vs Gzira U. 0-0
- Gozo - First Division Kercem A. vs Xaghra U. 0-2
- Although playing against inferior opponents than when they faced Kazakhstan and Cyprus, the top two teams in Group 'C', Malta showed improvement when they came up against Georgia in their final group match of the preliminary round.
However, they could not avoid the third defeat, going down 5-2. The only consolation was a strong finish which earned our boys two late goals after having gone 5-0 behind.
The scoreline could have been less gaping had Malta not been guilty of some sloppy defending early in the match. In fact our team paid dearly for committing two mistakes which were turned into goals.
On top of that the Georgian goalkeeper Zakaidze put up a five-star performance which denied Malta certain goals at crucial stages in the game.
The Georgians did display some neat holding and passing technique, with the Maltese relying mostly on fast breaks which very often had John Cutajar on the end of long balls.
Titladze's early brace was complemented by two more from Tsereteli and Asatiani for a 4-0 half-time lead for Georgia.
Bokeria made it 5-0 soon after ends were changed. That produced a bold reaction from the Maltese, led from the sidelines by coach Michal Striz. There were more saves from the Georgian goalkeeper before Mark Ellul Sullivan and Jeanbert Gatt reduced the deficit. Our players then contrived to squander another clear opening in what tuned out to be a rousing finale.
Commenting at the end of the game, Striz said that Malta played better than in their previous matches, stressing that this was a sign that the team can improve further.
In a highly entertaining first duel in the afternoon, unfortunately marred by a stoppage midway through the second period due to a power breakdown inside the pavilion, Kazakhstan confirmed they were the best outfit when they beat Cyprus 6-3 to qualify for the next phase of the competition.
The Kazaks, before the game equal on points with Cyprus but with a better goal difference, went behind in the third minute through Polyviou before taking a 3-1 lead within nine minutes through goals from Kozin and two from Samokhvalov.
Terentiev scored a fourth goal a minute into the second half, after which the Kazaks continued to administer that advantage through slick inter-passing and constant rotation. But three minutes from the end Papadopoulos netted twice in the space of 35 seconds to set up an exciting finish.
In a late spurt, though, Kazakhstan's Butrin scored twice within six seconds to seal his team's victory on 6-3.
Sat 20
- Premier League Birkirkara vs Floriana 1-0, Valletta vs Hibernians 1-2
- Second Division St. Andrews vs Gudja U. 1-0, Lija A. vs Melita 3-2
- Gozo - Second Division St. Lawrence S. vs Zebbug R. 2-1, Oratory Y. vs Gharb R. 1-3
Fri 19
- Third Division Kirkop U. vs Kalkara 2-5, Fgura U. vs Mdina K. 3-1
- Msida St. Joseph defender Josef Mifsud has been selected to form part of the National A team for a trial period.
He will start training with the National Team as from next Monday 22nd January 2007.
A product of Sliema Wanderers, Mifsud, who had also spent some time on loan with Lija, joined Msida in summer 2003.
- Bulgarian defender Emil Yantchev could not join Birkirkara due to a regulation which prohibits players from rejoining the team from which they were released at the end of the season after playing for another club.
Yantchev had asked Marsa to be released from his contract a couple of weeks ago although he had signed a one-year contract this summer. Although Marsa were quite reluctant to release him, they agreed to grant his wish although this would have weakened further the team as they had already released two foreigners in October - Essien Mbong and Anthony Ewurum.
The player was looking forward to joining the Stripes. However news that this is not possible could lead the player to re-think about the situation. On their part, Marsa will be trying to convince the player to stay with the club.
The situation of Emil Yantchev is different from that of Precious Monye who was also released by the Stripes at the end of last season. Since he was inactive for the past six months, nothing would stop Birkirkara from signing him as they still aim at signing a third foreign player along Polish goalkeeper Andrzej Bledzewski and Argentine striker Ruben Dario Larossa.
Monye has been training with the Stripes for a number of weeks.
- Malta's National Futsal side succumbed to another big defeat this time against a very skilled and talented Kazakhstan side who must now be favourites to win the Group.
Needing to register a high-scoring result to emulate Cyprus on goal-average, the Kazaks scored at regular intervals to pile up the score at 6-nil by the interval (Abdrakhmanov 6', 11', 18'), Bondarev (12', 17'), Reshetnikov (15').
Despite excellent goalkeeping by both Bjorn Vassallo and his substitute Benny Gialanze, Kazakhstan further increase their goals tally during the second period through Butrin (24'), Kozin (29', 30', 37'), Shpichka (31'), Karimov (32') and a fourth goal to his credit by top striker Abdrakhmonov (33'). Final Result: Malta 0 - Kazakhstan 13 (HT 0-6)
In the other game, Cyprus scored three second half goals to secure a hard-earned second win of the Tournament this time against Georgia. The goals in this game were scored by Manoli (16', 30'), Dasaev (35' pen.) and Polyviou (36') for Cyprus whilst Sarkisian scored Georgia's equalizer in the first half (18'). Final Result: Cyprus 4 - Georgia 1 (HT 1-1).
By virtue of today's results, Kazakhstan and Cyprus both qualified for the next Round of the UEFA Futsal Championship 2007.
This highly interesting UEFA Mini-Tournament comes to an end on Sunday afternoon with the following fixtures at the AS Hibernians Pavilion, Corradino: 14:00 Kazakhstan vs Cyprus (1/2 place); 16:00 Malta v Georgia (3/4 place)
- First Division side Mosta secured the services of Daniel Theuma till the end of the season.
Theuma had started this season with Pietà but then decided to quit. This was his second spell with Pietà after playing for the Hotspurs between 1994 and 1999. He had then moved to Valletta with whom he won all major honours. Theuma left Valletta in summer 2004 when he joined Msida St. Joseph.
Theuma is the second major signing for Mosta this January after they signed Nigerian striker Anthony Ewurum.
Mosta are currently second from bottom in the BOV First Division.
Thu 18
- Playing its first-ever full International Futsal encounter, Malta lost to a superior Cypriot side by seven goals to one in a game played in front of a sizeable crowd at the AS Hibernians Sports Pavilion at Corradino.
Cyprus took an early lead through Dasaev (2') and soon asserted their authority on the game with slick passing and interchanging play. Michal Striz's young side played with enthusiasm but found it hard to contain the constant pressure by the Cypriot who added two further goals through Polyviou (9') and Manoli (13') by the interval.
The more experience Cypriot side led by Petros Konstantinou displayed good technique and individual skills to pile up the score in a matter of three minutes midway in the second period through Manoli (23'), Poliviou (23'), Christodolou (24').
The gallant Maltese, urged on by skipper Nikky Bilocca, secured a well-deserved consolation goal late in the game through John Cutajar (35') of Net Stars.
MALTA: (starting five) Bjorn Vassallo (GK), Nicholas Bilocca, Tyron Borg, Robert Magro, John Cutajar; Mark Ellul Sullivan, Noel Bray, Paul Bugeja, Roderick Caruana, Jeanbert Gatt, Benny Gialanze, Michael Portelli.
In the opening Mini-Tournament game, Kazakhstan beat Georgia by four goals to one.
The Georgians went ahead on 5 minutes through Dzabiradze but Shpichka equalized for the Kazakhs in the 17th minute. (HT 1-1)
Kazakhstan added three more tallies on the resumption through a Kozin brace (27', 37') and Butrin (29') to secure their first victory of the tournament.
The Tournament continues on Friday afternoon with the following fixtures at the AS Hibernians Pavilion, Corradino: 16:30 Cyprus v Georgia; 18:30 Malta v Kazakhstan
Entrance is free.
- Gozo - Second Division Victoria H. vs SK Victoria W. 2-1
- The MFA Technical Centre will be organising an instructional meeting on Monday 22nd January 2007 at 17.30 at the Technical Centre, Ta'Qali, for holders of Foundation, YDD and CCC Licences coaches.
The meeting will comprise a practical session about goalkeepers' training.
All coaches are advised to be punctual for this instructional session.
Wed 17
- Malta climbed one place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking list and is now 118th.
The national team has not been in action since November when Malta lost 1-4 to Lithuania in a friendly match at the Hibs Ground. The next commitment is another friendly match, this time against Austria which will be played at the National Stadium on February 7th.
Then Malta plays four EURO 2008 qualifiers before the end of the season. After playing Moldova, away from home on March 24, Malta hosts Greece at Ta' Qali four days later. Another two matches away from home against Norway on June 2nd and Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 6th complete the programme.
Amongst the other European countries, Malta is 44th. Just ahead of Malta are Moldova (85th, up 1), Albania (86, up 1), Latvia (90), Iceland (93), Georgia (95, down 1) and Estonia (106). Behind Malta are Armenia (123), Azerbaijan (127), Kazakhstan (142), Liechtenstein (159), Andorra (165), Faroe Islands (181), Luxembourg (186) and San Marino (195).
- In the second of two ‘double-header international friendlies played at the Ta’ Qali Training Grounds this evening, Malta Under-17 again succumbed to a slick Scottish side by five clear goals and the young Scots, led by coach Ross Mathie had already taken a two-nil lead by the interval.
The Maltese, under the charge of coach Oliver Spiteri, shared the exchanges in the early stages with some good movements but once the Scots settled down they went ahead with a Kris Reiten (Norwich City) penalty on 18 minutes and added a second soon after with a Jonathan Stewart (Hearts) strike (24’). Malta’s Jonathan Xerri hit the post from a corner situation just before the half-time break.
In a match controlled by Mr Adrian Azzopardi, the Scots asserted their authority on the game adding their score tally through a Scott McNamus brace (48’, 75’) and a splendid shot from outside the area by Celtic’s Carlo Monti. Malta’s spurned a good opportunity for a consolation goal on 60 minutes through Miguel Ciantar with only the opposing goalie to beat.
MALTA: Daniel Balzan, Timothy Fleri Soler, Jonathan Xerri, Owen Bugeja (Melchiore Vella), Paul Kane Farrugia, Chris McKay, Leighton Grech, Mark Scerri (Andrew Camilleri), Miguel Ciantar (Clint Zammit), Ismael Grech (Dylon Grima), Matthew Gauci.
- Malta international striker Daniel Bogdanovic is currently on trial at Watford.
Bogdanovic left Malta on Sunday accompanied by Marsaxlokk president Victor Sciriha and coach Brian Talbot.
He had returned with Marsaxlokk last summer after spending the previous eighteen months on loan, first with Ghajnsielem in season 2004/05 and with Sliema Wanderers last season.
The Yugoslav-born striker, who had also played for Naxxar Lions and Valletta in Malta, already had some experience abroad having played with Esperance in Tunisia, Vasas in Hungary and Cherno More in Bulgaria.
Meanwhile Birkirkara striker Etienne Barbara is expected to leave Malta next week for a trial with NK Rijeka of Croatia.
The offer by the Croatian side arrived through an Italian agent. It seems that interest in the player was expressed after the player was seen in action in the training session with Milan and the friendly against the rossoneri.
A product of Floriana, Barbara had joined Marsaxlokk in January 2003 but in January 2005, he was transferred to Birkirkara.
- Five Premier League players were handed a one-match ban by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner following last weekend's matches.
The worst hit were Floriana who will be lacking two players - Ian Azzopardi and Manolito Micallef for the key match against Birkirkara on Saturday.
Leaders Marsaxlokk will be without goalkeeper Justin Haber for the game against Hibernians while Diego Armando Cucciardi and Edward Herrera are ruled out for the direct clash between the bottom two teams Marsa and Pietà Hotspurs on Sunday.
Jonathan Francica (Tarxien) was suspended for one match in Division 1 while Sergio Cappitta (Balzan), Chris Mifsud Bonnici and Jacques Scerri (Melita), Joseph Caruana (Rabat), Jonathan Briscoe White (St. Andrews), Sandro Rapinett and Dylan Mercieca (Sta. Venera) were banned for one match in Division 2. Sta. Venera official Johann Vella was suspended for two matches.
Division 3 players Luke Borg (Attard), Adriano Fenech (Pembroke), Adrian Galea (Sirens), Charles Agius (Ta' Xbiex), Kevin Naudi (Qrendi), Jeffrey Camilleri (Zurrieq) were all suspended for one match.
Tue 16
- Twenty-seven year old Serbian striker Bojan Spasojevic is set to join Floriana as their third foreigner, along Riad Gango-Rtsa and Wendell Gomes.
Spasojevic, who played for Vozdovac in the Serbian First Division, attended the first training session on Monday. He is expected to sign a contract till the end of the season.
The Serbian striker would be replacing Sullivan Da Silva who had joined the Greens in November.
Spasojevic should sign in time to play against Birkirkara this weekend.
- Twenty-eight year old striker Aleksandar Madzar from Montenegro will be Sliema Wanderers' third foreigner. He will be replacing Czech midfielder Zdenek Svoboda who will be given a coaching role at the club.
- In their bid to retain First Division status, San Gwann F.C. will be signing Serbian forward Nebjosa Stajic.
Twenty-four year old Stajic played last for CSK Pivara in the Serbian First Division League and will figure out for the Saints for the first time in a friendly match on Thursday.
This will be his second experience in Malta having played for Valletta a few years ago.
Stajic had joined Valletta towards the end of January 2004. He played seven matches scoring two goals.
Danilo Doncic, who was acting as player-coach so far, will now be concentrating only on coaching.
Mon 15
- Malta's participation in international teams competitions organised by UEFA at 'A', Under-21 and Youth levels and also in the Senior Women's category, besides that in Club competitions, has definitely consolidated the name of our country as one of UEFA's Member Associations with an extensive presence in Continental competitions.
The only missing link, apart from the competition for the Women's national junior teams, was the UEFA Futsal Championship for nations.
Now this absence will also be a thing of the past as Malta is set to make its debut on the European circuit when 12 nations will compete in the preliminary round of the 2007 Futsal UEFA Championship between Thursday and Sunday.
The stage is set for three mini-tournaments of four teams each, with the winners of each group and the best two second-placed teams to take on the 23 top nations in the qualifying rounds later on in the year.
To generate more interest among the Maltese in this preliminary round, the Group 'C' matches will be played in Malta, with our national team playing Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Georgia.
The venue will be the AS Hibernians Pavilion, Corradino, kindly put at the disposal of the MFA by Hibernians FC.
After being instrumental in having a Maltese team, Hibernians, competing in Europe at Futsal club level, the MFA has laid the groundwork for the debut of the National Team.
A coach was appointed and the choice fell on the Czech, Michal Striz, who was in charge of the Czech national team for seven years until 2005, in the process leading his country to third place in the 2003 European Futsal Championship.
Since taking up the job as Malta's coach, Striz has been fully engaged in overseeing the competitive set-up of the Futsal domestic competitions, monitoring the players for eventual inclusion in the national squad and conducting regular training sessions. This has been done in collaboration with the MFA Technical Centre.
The MFA Futsal Committee, under the chairmanship of MFA vice-president, John Farrugia and secretary, Mario Gauci, is responsible for the organisation of Futsal competitions in Malta.
Months of preparation of the national team squad will hopefully bear positive results for Malta later on this week, with qualification for the qualifying rounds being our target.
This will be a new venture for the Maltese football fans, one which gives them the opportunity to give our team the full backing in what promises to be a warm atmosphere at the Corradino Pavilion. This support should help Malta perform with honour.
The schedule of matches is as follows:
Thursday 18.01.07 16.30 hrs Georgia v Kazakhstan
18.30 hrs Malta v Cyprus
Friday 19.01.07 16.30 hrs Cyprus v Georgia
18.30 hrs Malta v Kazakhstan
Sunday 21.01.07 16.30 hrs Kazakhstan v Cyprus
18.30 hrs Georgia v Malta
The following 20 players form part of the preliminary squad from which the final list will be chosen:
Goalkeepers: Bjorn Vassallo, Benny Gialanze, Jonathan Pisani, Ian Farrugia;
Defenders: Nicholas Bilocca, John Cutajar, Mark Ellul Sullivan, Michael Portelli, George Taliana, Jeanbert Gatt;
Forwards: Tyron Borg, Noel Bray, Alvin Cacciattolo, Roderick Caruana, Robert Magro, Roberto Micallef, Nebjosa Mijailovic, Branko Pantelic, Paul Bugeja, Rene Sciberras.
The UEFA Officials for the tournament will be D. Janosevic (Croatia), R. Lobo (Czech Republic), B. Sorescu (Rumania), R. Katanic (Serbia) while Charles Ronlent (Belgium) will be the tournament director. UEFA Delegate: P. Galannieto (Spain); Referee Observer: S. Tivold (Slovenia); Timekeeper: Alex Arena (Malta).
Mon 15
- In the first of two international friendly matches played at the Ta’ Qali Training Grounds on Monday, Malta Under-17 went down to their Scottish counterparts 3-0 after the Scots had taken a 1-0 lead by the halfway mark.
The Maltese, under the charge of coach Oliver Spiteri, were quite competitive in the opening period, even if Scotland were a shade better in constructing their play.
The visitors increased the pressure in the first twenty minutes of the second half, during which they doubled the score. It was then that the Maltese reacted and could have made their mark on the game if they had capitalised on some of the opportunities they had.
In the end, they paid dearly for these lapses as they conceded a third goal in the final minute.
The two teams will meet again in another friendly on Wednesday at the same venue. Kick-off is at 18.00 hrs.
- Third Division Mgarr U. vs Siggiewi 4-2, Xghajra T. vs Pembroke A. 2-2
Sun 14
- Premier League Marsaxlokk vs St. George's 1-1, Floriana vs Msida SJ 1-1
- First Division Tarxien R. vs Mosta 3-0, Mqabba vs San Gwann 1-0
- Second Division Balzan Y. vs Sta. Venera L. 3-0, Zebbug R. vs Rabat A. 1-3
- Third Division Ta' Xbiex vs Gharghur 1-7, Qrendi vs Ghaxaq 4-0
- Gozo - First Division Nadur Y. vs Xewkija T. 4-1, Sannat L. vs Ghajnsielem 3-0
Sat 13
- Premier League Pietà H. vs Sliema W. 2-2, Birkirkara vs Marsa 3-0
- Second Division Melita vs Gudja U. 2-4, Birzebbuga SP vs St. Andrews 1-2
- Gozo - Second Division St. Lawrence S. vs Gharb R. 2-2, Oratory Y. vs Victoria H. 1-3
- Malta international striker Michael Mifsud made his debut with his new club Coventry City when he was included as a substitute in the game against Crystal Palace at Ricoh Arena on Saturday. Manager Micky Adams included Mifsud on 71 minutes, replacing Leon McKenzie.
- Pietà Hotspurs secured the services of Bulgarian midfielder Rumen Angelov Galabov.
He will be the third foreigner along Svetlan Kondev and Martin Deanov.
Galabov had already played in Malta for five months. He had joined Valletta in January 2003 but was released at the end of the season although he was released at the end of that season although he scored seven goals in eleven matches.
The Hotspurs could further strengthen their squad with the signing of an Italian midfielder. Since Bulgaria is now a member of the European Union, Pietà could have more than three foreign players as long as they all come from the EU.
Roberto Provenzano, who played for Atletico Mirafiori, is currently on trial with the club.
Meanwhile Pietà have transferred Andrew Spiteri to Birkirkara and Claudio Calleja to Mqabba.
Spiteri, an Under-21 international, signed an-18 month contract with the Stripes.
Calleja, on the other hand, joins Mqabba on loan till the end of the season.
Fri 12
- Third Division Gzira U. vs Zurrieq 1-2, Sirens vs Attard 2-0
- St. George's FC strengthened their squad with the signing of Nigerian striker Alfred Effiong. Effiong replaces Suleiman Hammad as the club's third foreigner along with Renato Conceicao and Edoardo Do Nascimento.
Effiong played for Kercem Ajax in Gozo for the past two seasons, being a regular scorer in the Onvol First Division.
The 20-year old striker, who had already attended a trial with the Cospicua side this summer, is expected to make his debut on Sunday in the game against Marsaxlokk.
Thu 11
- Malta international striker Michael Mifsud signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Coventry City. He moved to the Ricoh Arena on a free transfer from Norwegian side Lillestrom SK.
Speaking to the club's official website, Mifsud said, "It feels great to be here. The stadium is amazing and it is a dream come true to come to England to play. Back home in Malta everybody is a fan of English football and I can't wait to pull the shirt on and play for Coventry."
"I will have to work hard in training and I may have to wait a little while for my chance but I like to work hard and I am desperate to do well."
"I know we have got lots of good players here who I can't wait to play with. My dream has always been to play in the Premier League and I would love to achieve that with Coventry."
Coventry manager Micky Adams told the Coventry Telegraph, "We made an offer for Michael early last summer but he is out of contract now and it was too good an opportunity to turn down.
"There were a few clubs interested in him but the thing is, I had actually gone out to see him and met him in Lillestrom, and I met him again and took him round the stadium so I have worked hard at trying to get him here, so maybe some of the other clubs haven't worked as hard as I have and that goes a long way."
Mifsud was in fact linked with a number of clubs with Premiership side Sheffield United at one point emerging as favourites to secure his services.
A product of Sliema Wanderers, Mifsud played for Kaiserslautern in Germany between 2001 and 2004. He returned with Sliema in January 2004 but seven months later he moved to Lillestrom.
Mifsud could make his debut on Saturday in the game against Crystal Palace if the international clearance arrives in time.
- The Malta and Scotland Under-17 teams will be playing twice between the 15 and 17th of January in what should be two testing friendly internationals for Oliver Spiteri, the Malta coach, and Ross Mathie, who is the Scottish international youth team boss.
The Scottish team will be 21-strong, with players on the books of such clubs as Manchester Utd, Rangers, Celtic and Aberdeen.
Scotland FA's youth development programmes are among the most progressive in Europe, with a technical staff which works meticulously to produce players of quality and blend them into sound units. In fact Scotland very often competes with great credit at this level and recently obtained second place in the Under-19 European Championship.
Malta, too is leaving no stone unturned to prepare the youth players in the best possible way. Matches for the Under-17 and Under-19 teams are becoming normal fixtures on the MFA's international friendly and competitive calendar for youth teams.
Oliver Spiteri, in charge of the Under 17's, will have another opportunity to size up his team's potential and to add new faces to his squad.
Malta plays Scotland on Monday and again on Wednesday at the Ta' Qali Training Grounds. Kick-off is at 18.00 hrs.
The Malta squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Daniel Balzan, Joswel Caruana (Hibernians), Michael Incorvaja (Sliema)
Defenders: Owen Bugeja (Floriana), Carl Camilleri (Pietà), Andrew Camilleri Camsky (St Andrews), Kane Paul Farrugia (Sliema), Timothy Fleri Soler (Hibernians), Ismael Grech (Pietà), Jonathan Xerri (Hibernians)
Midfielders: Keith Fenech (Birkirkara), Matthew Gauci, Leighton Dean Grech (Hibernians), Sheldon Grech (Pietà), Dylan Grima (Valletta), Christopher MacKay (Pietà), Amadeo Mercieca, Mark Scerri (Sliema), Clint Zammit (Birkirkara)
Strikers: Miguel Ciantar (Sliema), Randall Refalo, Melchior Vella (Pietà).
Wed 10
- Malta international striker Michael Mifsud joined Championship side Coventry City.
Mifsud has been linked with a whole host of clubs, both in the Premiership and the Championship, with Coventry and Sheffield United emerging as favourites to secure his services but he finally opted to join Micky Adams' side.
Adams told the club website: "I believe as well as being a proven goalscorer he will bring more depth to our squad."
Coventry have been long term suitors of Mifsud and had a bid for the forward turned down by Lillestrom over the summer.
After scoring 11 goals in 19 games in the Tippeligaen, Mifsud was available on a free transfer after seeing his contract with the Norwegian side expire.
A product of Sliema Wanderers, Mifsud played for Kaiserslautern in Germany between 2001 and 2004. He returned with Sliema in January 2004 but seven months later he moved to Lillestrom.
Coventry are currently sixteenth with 34 points from 27 matches.
- Daniel Bogdanovic has long been hitting the headlines in recent seasons, mostly as an executioner in front of goal, apart from his ability as an assist.
The four goals he netted for high-flying Marsaxlokk in three matches during November and December and others he provided for his team-mates testify to this player's qualities. These exploits have rightly earned him the BOV Player of the month for the last two months of 2006.
This season his consistency as a goal-scorer has flourished, to the extent that he is currently lying second in the scorers' list with 15 goals, one fewer than Sebastian Monesterolo of Valletta.
The Marsaxlokk striker's new lease of life under the charge of coach Brian Talbot has been one of the reasons why the Southseasiders are enjoying an excellent run and are perched well above the other contestants at the top of the BOV Premier League.
If this player's consistency is maintained he will certainly be instrumental in helping his team win the BOV Premier League title for the first time this season.
- Three Premier League players were handed a one-match ban by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner after last weekend's matches.
Christian Caruana (Floriana), Stephen Wellman (Marsaxlokk) and Emanuel Sevasta (St. George's) are therefore ruled out of next Sunday's matches when Marsaxlokk take on St. George's and Floriana meet Msida St. Joseph.
Pietà Hotspurs coach Carmel Busuttil was suspended for two matches.
In Division 1, Silvio Sciberras (Senglea) and Matthew Fleri Soler (St. Patrick) were banned for one match.
Vincent Camilleri (Birzebbuga), Colin Ciantar (Lija), Christopher Borg and Mark Borg (Mellieha), Dylan Falzon and Alan Zahra (Rabat) were all suspended for one match in Division 2 while Ayrton Buhagiar (Mdina), Kevin Tonna (Kalkara), Tano Farrugia and Joseph Mercieca (Qrendi) and Eman Zammit (Siggiewi) were banned for one match in Division 3. Rabat Ajax official Thomas Schembri was suspended for two matches.
Kenneth Bedingfield (B'Bugia SP) was handed a one-match ban in the Youth League.
Tue 9
Mon 8
- Third Division Zejtun C. vs Fgura U. 2-3, Sta. Lucia vs Luqa SA 0-1
- Owing to unforeseen circumstances, the scheduled instructional meeting for Monday 15th January 2007 had to be postponed.
This instructional meeting for holders of Foundation, YDD and CCC Licence coaches will now be held on Monday 22nd January.
The meeting, which will be a practical session about goalkeepers' training, will commence at 17:30.
All coaches are advised to be punctual.
Sun 7
- Premier League Marsa vs Floriana 0-2, St. George's vs Valletta 0-2
- First Division St. Patrick vs Mqabba 1-2, Senglea A. vs Naxxar L. 2-1
- Second Division Rabat A. vs Lija A. 2-3, Mellieha vs Zebbug R. 3-0, Gozo vs Dingli S. 1-1
- Third Division Kalkara vs Xghajra T. 0-3, Mdina K. vs Kirkop U. 4-1
- Gozo - First Division Xaghra U. vs Qala SJ 5-0
- The contingent of AC Milan returned to Malta on Sunday to resume their training camp.
Milan travelled home on Saturday to play Juventus in the Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi - Polymer Cup, which they won 3-2.
Speaking to international media, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said he was satisfied with the result as the training camp in Malta looks to be reaping its fruit.
The Milan coach said he will be intensifying the training sessions which will be held on Monday morning and afternoon while on Tuesday morning, the team will have a light training session as they will be facing local champions Birkirkara in a friendly match at the National Stadium at 19:30.
Meanwhile missing from the squad which travelled to Malta were Italian national team players Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Alberto Gilardino and Filippo Inzaghi who travelled to Rome where they will be presented by a medal of merit by the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano. These players will however travel back to Malta late on Monday in order to play on Tuesday.
Sat 6
- Premier League Hibernians vs Pietà H. 0-1, Msida SJ vs Marsaxlokk
- Second Division St. Andrews vs Melita 3-0, Sta. Venera L. vs Birzebbuga SP 0-1
- Gozo - Second Division Oratory Y. vs St. Lawrence S. 2-0, SK Victoria W. vs Zebbug R. 9-1
Fri 5
- Third Division Siggiewi vs Qrendi 1-2, Pembroke A. vs Mgarr U. 1-3
- Four players are not travelling with the rest of the AC Milan squad which leaves Malta on Saturday morning for the game from the Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi against Juventus.
Dida, Kaka, Kakha Kaladze and Giuseppe Favalli are all nursing slight injuries and were left out of the squad for Saturday's match. They will therefore continue their training sessions in Malta.
On Friday morning, Dida and Christian Brocchi trained at Golden Bay, surrounded by a large number of supporters. The rest of the squad had a work-out at the gym of the SAS Radisson Golden Sands.
The afternoon session was due to be held at the National Stadium in order to accommodate a larger number of fans to watch the training session. However bad weather forced the management to transfer the session to the MFA Training Grounds in order to avoid damage to the pitch of the National Stadium as four Premier League matches are scheduled for the weekend.
The session consisted of a mini-game where on one side there were the eleven players who will be in the starting line-up for the game against Juventus: Kalac, Cafu, Bonera, Maldini, Jankulovski, Gattuso, Pirlo, Brocchi, Seedorf; Inzaghi, Gilardino.
Saturday will be a busy day for Milan as the squad leaves Malta on at 09:30 and after playing Juventus at 17:00, they will return to Malta during the night after leaving Malpensa at 23:00.
Rino Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Filippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino will not return with the rest of the squad as on Monday evening, together with Alessandro Nesta, they will be presented with an award by the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano.
However the four players are expected to travel to Malta late on Monday or early on Tuesday in order to play in the friendly match against Birkirkara on Tuesday.
Birkirkara FC vs AC Milan will be played on Tuesday, kick-off at 19:30.
- The MFA Women's Football sub-committee recently organised two 5-a-side football tournaments in the Under-13 and Under-17 categories. These were held at the San Gwann Football Complex, with the participants coming from local clubs and schools.
There were nine teams in the Under-13 category, with newcomers, San Andrea School, and Mgarr claiming the top two places. They were followed by Hibernians, two teams from Birkirkara (Yellows and Reds), the other newcomers, Valletta, and then Sta. Venera. The last two teams, also participating for the first time time, were St. Catherine School and Lija.
The competition in the older category, played on a round robin basis, was won by Melita who managed to beat second-placed Mosta in the final game. Sta. Venera Lightnings, Sliema Raiders and Hibernians all ended on equal points. Mgarr came next, followed by Lija.
At the end of the tournament, sub-committee chairman Alfred Zammit, on behalf of the MFA, presented medals to all participants and a plaque to the San Gwann committee for their kind gesture in making the turf pitch available.
The sub-committee which is also composed of Jackie Ellul Soler, Lorraine Zammit, Anna Agius and the women's national team, Pierre Brincat, is fully engaged in widening women's participation in football, through tournaments for younger age-groups from local clubs and schools.
This is indeed a commendable effort aimed at sustaining development in women's football in Malta.
- Four Premier League players were handed a one-match ban by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner.
Msida midfielders Ousseni Zongo and Paul Fenech, who were both sent off in the game against Valletta, will be missing Saturday's top-of-the-table clash against Marsaxlokk.
Floriana defender Julian Briffa is ruled out of the game against Floriana on Sunday while Pietà's Dominic Mifsud will be missing the game against Hibernians on Saturday.
In Division 1, Roderick Fenech (Hamrun), Jane Talcevski and Michael Borg Olivier (Qormi), Antonio Saliba, Roberto Brincat and Alan Borg (San Gwann) were suspended for one match while Hamrun Spartans official Leonard Zammit was suspended for two matches.
Michael Ciappara (Birzebbuga) and Daniel Grain (Melita) were banned for one match in the Second & Third Division Knock-Out while Matthew Mallia and Roderick Debattista (Gudja) were suspended for one match in the Youth League.
Thu 4
- Malta international goalkeeper Justin Haber is set to make a return to domestic football by joining BOV Premier League leaders Marsaxlokk.
This summer, Haber had joined Belgian Second Division side Excelsior Virton after spending last season playing with French non-league side US Quevilly.
A product of Floriana, Haber played for a short spell with SK Dobrudzha in Bulgaria in season 2000/01 before joining Birkirkara in summer 2002. He played for three years with the Stripes before leaving at the end of season 2005/06.
Meanwhile Marsaxlokk striker Daniel Bogdanovic has been offered a trial by Premiership side Watford.
Daniel Bogdanovic returned with Marsaxlokk last summer after spending the previous eighteen months on loan, first with Ghajnsielem in season 2004/05 and with Sliema Wanderers last season. He is currently top-scorer in the Premier League with 15 goals together with Valletta's Sebastian Monesterolo.
The Yugoslav-born striker, who had also played for Naxxar Lions and Valletta in Malta, already had some experience abroad having played with Esperance in Tunisia, Vasas in Hungary and Cherno More in Bulgaria.
- Players, officials and supporters from now onwards could obtain a copy of BOV Premier League matches as these will be made available on DVD following an agreement between the Malta Football Association and Smash Television. DVDs will be available from the clubs for the price of Lm 4 each.
These DVDs were launched during a press conference which was held at the Centenary Hall, Ta' Qali. During the press conference, representatives from the Premier clubs were each presented with a set of DVDs featuring their team's first round matches.
MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud said that although there were some difficulties over the television rights, the association eventually reached an agreement with Melita Cable over the live screening of a number of league matches and then an agreement with Smash Television followed. Thanks to the latter agreement, Smash Television is filming all the other matches and screening them.
He said that the need for clubs to have copies of these matches was felt and thanks to Joe Baldacchino and Andrew Farrugia from Smash Television, this is now being made possible.
Smash Television station manager Andrew Farrugia said the station was committed to offer a wide coverage of sport, and football in particular. He said that with filming of First, Second and Third Division matches due to start soon, the station will be in a position to offer a complete package.
Meanwhile MFA president Dr Mifsud spoke about the association's work over the past season and what the MFA has in plan for 2007.
Two important projects are the new MFA Headquarters at the Millennium Stand, Ta' Qali and the new artificial turf pitch at the Centenary Stadium.
The new headquarters will be inaugurated in June. In terms of size, these headquarters will be twice bigger than the present headquarters in Valletta, making it possible for the administrative staff to work better. With the new headquarters being in Ta' Qali, the parking problem for those who visit the MFA Headquarters would be eliminated as well.
With the new FIFA Two-Star artificial turf pitch, the association will be able to stage international matches, especially at Under-21 and youth level and women's national team matches. Dr Mifsud said that it would now be much easier for the association to host mini-tournaments at these levels by having such an all-weather pitch.
By the end of the year, thirty-five mini-pitches will be installed as part of the UEFA Jubilee Project. These mini-pitches are of various sizes, ranging from 240 square metres (20m x 12m) to 800 square metres. So far, seven have been installed.
Later this month, the Malta national futsal team will be playing its first matches. Malta will be hosting the mini-tournament at the Corradino Pavilion.
An important event will the 50th anniversary of participation in international competitions. Activities start on January 22nd with an exhibition which will be held at the Centenary Hall featuring several football memorabilia related to the national team. A drawing competition for children in Year 6 classes has already been launched where children were asked to illustrate how football unites different cultures. A reception will be held for former and present national team players.
The main highlight of these activities is the friendly match between Malta and Austria on February 7th. The Austrian national team will arrive in Malta a few days before in order to hold a training camp at Ta' Qali.
Of great importance for the Malta Football Association is the XXXI Ordinary UEFA Congress in Dusseldorf, Germany on 25/26 January. Besides the election for the president of UEFA with Lennart Johansson and Michel Platini as the two candidates, MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud will once again run for the post of a member in the UEFA Executive Committee - a post to which he was first elected in 1994.
The Annual General Meeting of the Malta Football Association will be held in July 2007. Elections for the posts of president, three vice-presidents and treasurer are necessary as the current officials would have served a three-year term.
Proposed amendments to the MFA Statute will be discussed during an Extraordinary General Meeting which will be held on February 9. These amendments deal mainly with the powers and function of the Council and the Executive Committee, the abolition of the Arbitration Board and the amalgamation of its functions with that of the Players, Coaches and Member Clubs Complaints Board and the setup of an Independent Arbitration Tribunal as required by UEFA and FIFA regulations.
The association will be working hard towards strengthening the regional system for youth football which was launched last year.
As usual, the MFA will focus on the recruitment of referees and offering good education and training for referees with the main objective being that their level is the best possible. As regards coaching, the MFA will be holding another UEFA 'A' Licence coach in April/May while focussing on education for coaches at all levels.
- Birkirkara and Malta international players Roderick Briffa and Etienne Barbara got the opportunity to join the Milan squad for a training session at the MFA Training Grounds on Thursday afternoon.
Goalkeeper Nelson Dida, Georgian defender Kakhaber Kaladze and Brazilian midfielder Kaka skipped the session as they are nursing injuries. Dida arrived in Malta on Thursday morning after he was allowed to delay his arrival from Brazil by 24 hours.
The morning session for most of the players was held at Golden Bay. Only a few players had their training session at Ta' Qali.
A reception will be held at the SAS Radisson Golden Sands on Thursday evening where around a thousands fans will have the opportunity to meet some of the players.
Another two training sessions will be held on Friday.
On Saturday morning, the squad leaves Malta at 09:30 for a quick trip back home where the rossoneri host Juventus in the Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi. At 23:00, the squad catches another flight back to Malta.
A recovery session will be held on Sunday afternoon at 15:00. Another two sessions will be held on Monday at 09:30 and 15:00 and one last session will be held on Tuesday morning at 09:30.
The friendly match between Milan and Birkirkara will be played at the National Stadium on Tuesday, kick-off at 19:30.
Wed 3
- AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti says said he is glad that the team is in Malta for this training camp as he feels this is an ideal location to prepare for forthcoming commitments in the Serie A and the Champions League.
Ancelotti was speaking during a press conference which was held at the Radisson Golden Sands Resort, Golden Bay on Wednesday. Also addressing the press conference were Birkirkara chairman Mr Victor Zammit, international secretary John Borg, coach Stephen Azzopardi and Milan players Paolo Maldini and Clarence Seedorf.
Ancelotti thanked Birkirkara FC for their hospitality and said he is glad that the team is in Malta, also considering that Malta has the largest Milan supporters club. He said the players will be working hard during this week in order to be at their very best at the right time.
Although Milan are currently being linked with a number of players who could possibly join the club during this transfer window, Ancelotti said the best acquisitions for the club are those players who have recovered from injuries. "With the players currently available in squad, the team are strong enough to challenge for honours," he said.
Asked what will be the club's main objective, Ancelotti revealed that for Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, the Champions League is always the number one objective. "Although it is the most difficult competition, we always aim for the Champions League, considering that all teams start on equal footing," said the Milan coach.
Birkirkara president Victor Zammit said it was a great honour for the club to host Milan, considering that the format of European competitions no longer makes it possible for local clubs to host such big names of European and world football.
He augured that the Milan contingent will have a pleasant stay and that the training camp will produce the desired results. Zammit concluded with thanks to those who made possible this visit by AC Milan.
Birkirkara coach Stephen Azzopardi said the game against Milan will be a very important experience for the Stripes as it will give the team the opportunity to play against such a high-profile side.
Azzopardi said the team's objective will be that of doing well in the game but ultimately, the main objective is that of gaining experience from the game as the the Stripes prepare for the rest of the Premier League campaign.
The Birkirkara coach finally augured that this training camp will serve Milan in the long term.
Milan captain Paolo Maldini said this training camp is of utmost importance for the team as they prepare for the remaining matches. "From now onwards there will be no more breaks and therefore it is very important for us to work hard now in order to be in our top form soon," said Maldini.
Asked whether he will be hanging his boots at the end of the season, Maldini said this was a possibility but he is yet to take a final decision.
Clarence Seedorf was impressed by the warm welcome given by local supporters at the airport on Tuesday. "I would not mind taking them to Milan for them to continue giving us their warm support," joked Seedorf.
Also present for the press conference were vice-chairmen Joe Zammit and Joe Gauci and other Birkirkara FC officials.
- AC Milan held their first training sessions at the MFA Training Grounds on Wednesday.
The team is scheduled to have two training sessions daily, one at 09:30 and another at 15:00. However there will be one or two sessions which will be held at Golden Bay.
A number of AC Milan players however skipped the first training session which was held at the MFA Training Grounds on Wednesday morning. Cafu, Alessandro Costacurta, Giuseppe Favalli, Kaka and Andrea Pirlo, among others, trained instead at Golden Bay, under the eyes of coach Carlo Ancelotti.
On Saturday, there will be no training sessions as the Milan squad travels back home for the Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi. A recovery session will then be held on Sunday. On Monday, there will be another two sessions while the final session will be held on Tuesday at 09:30.
Tue 2
- The Milan squad arrived in Malta on Tuesday evening to conduct a one-week training camp between the 3rd and 10th January. They arrived at the Malta International Airport at 22:05 on flight KM 2615 from Malpensa.
Greeting the players were hundreds of Milan supporters who turned out at the airport to give them a warm welcome.
The contingent is made up of 28 players together with the team staff and a number of club officials. Missing from the squad are the injured Alessandro Nesta and Serginho. Dida, who was also recovering from an injury, will be arriving in Malta between Wednesday and Thursday.
The squad includes:
goalkeepers Dida, Zeljko Kalac, Valerio Fiori;
defenders Cafu, Paolo Maldini, Kakha Kaladze, Alessandro Costacurta, Dario Simic, Marek Jankulovski, Giuseppe Favalli, Daniele Bonera;
midfielders Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf, Yoann Gourcuff, Andrea Pirlo, Kakà, Massimo Ambrosini, Christian Brocchi;
forwards Ricardo Oliveira, Filippo Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino, Marco Borriello.
Also part of the squad are five primavera players: goalkeeper Davide Facchin, defenders Luca Antonelli, Marcus Diniz Paixao and Matteo Darmian and forward Willy Aumbameyang. Former Milan player Ibrahim Ba will also travel with the squad. The player, who was inactive over the past months as he was recovering from an injury, has played for Marseille, Bolton, Besiktas and Djurgardens after leaving the rossoneri.
Mon 1
- The Milan squad will be arriving in Malta on Tuesday evening to conduct a one-week training camp between the 3rd and 10th January.
The contingent will leave Malpensa airport on Tuesday evening and is expected in Malta at around 21:30 from where the squad will be transferred to the hotel.
The full squad will be travelling to Malta, except for the injured Alessandro Nesta and Serginho. Dida, who was also recovering from an injury, will be arriving between Wednesday and Thursday.
There will be two training sessions daily - at 09:30 and 15:00, starting from Wednesday. Almost all sessions will be held at the MFA Training Grounds, Ta' Qali, except for one or two sessions which will be held on the beach.
Since the rossoneri were unable to conduct a proper training camp in summer due to their participation in the preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League as a result of the sentences derived from the Calciopoli scandal, Milan will be having an intensive training camp here in Malta.
On Thursday, the players and coach Carlo Ancelotti will be the guests of honour during a gala night which will be held at the Radisson SAS Golden Sands Resort and Spa, Golden Bay.
On Saturday morning at 09:30, the squad leaves Malta for a quick trip back home where the rossoneri host Juventus in the Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi. Kick-off is scheduled for 17:00. At 23:00, the squad catches another flight back to Malta.
The friendly match between AC Milan and Birkirkara will be played at the National Stadium on Tuesday, kick-off at 19:30.
Tickets for the game are available from the Milan Supporters Club in Malta and Gozo, Birkirkara Football Club, Birkirkara FC Supporters Club, La Stalla Pizzeria - Bugibba, Geraldu Kiosk - Valletta, Missha - Sliema, Gauci Automobiles - Birkirkara, St. Joseph Petrol Station - Sta. Venera, amongst other establishments.
Tickets cost Lm 25 for VIP Enclosure, Lm 15 for Enclosure, Lm 10 Millennium Stand and Lm 5 for North and South Stand.
Doors will be open at 18:00 and entertainment will be provided by top local singers namely Hooligan, Natasha and Charlene, Ali and Lis, J Anvil and the Big Brothers Brass Band.
The Milan contingent leaves Malta on Wednesday 10 at 15:30.
- Clubs will once again have the opportunity to enter the transfer market as the January transfer window opens on Tuesday. Although there will probably be no big signings, clubs will have another month's chance to strengthen their squads ahead of their commitments in the remaining matches of the second round and especially the Championship or Relegation Pool.
Although their campaign was excellent so far, BOV Premier League leaders Marsaxlokk are expected to strengthen their squad with the signing of a new foreign player.
The other two foreigners on the books of the club are Brazilian midfielder Andre Rocha Da Silva and Nigerian striker Haruna Doda.
Other clubs who could sign new foreigners include St. George's, Pietà Hotspurs, Marsa and Birkirkara.
Although St. George's have already three foreigners on their books, one of them could make way for a new foreigner. Wooden-spoonists Pietà and Marsa have one and two vacancies respectively.
On the other hand, Birkirkara, were reportedly interested in re-signing David Simon and Precious Monye who were both in the Stripes' squad last season. However Simon, who was in Malta over the past weeks, failed to reach an agreement with the club and therefore Polish goalkeeper Andrzej Bledzewski is set to stay till the end of the season.
One signing for Birkirkara will be that Pietà Hotspurs midfielder Andrew Spiteri, who recently lost his place in the Hotspurs' squad.
Etienne Barbara seems to be a target for more than one club but Birkirkara are not willing to transfer the player.
Hibernians and Floriana could add one or two players to their squad after a disappointing campaign so far.
Meanwhile Nigerian striker Anthony Ewurum, who was released by Marsa earlier this season, joined First Division side Mosta till the end of the season. He replaces Seyi Rufai.