The Malta Under21 Team is back in action in unfamiliar territories exactly a year after the Spain defeat in Melilla, which also represented the final fixture in a previous competition.
Ahead of a daunting new cycle rolling as from September, with Spain yet again, Belgium, Scotland, Hungary, and Kazakhstan our group opponents coming up, the team is at the tail end of a hectic training camp that lasted six weeks, with one final drill performed on Monday evening ahead of this North Macedonia friendly in Skopje late on Tuesday afternoon.
Last time out for the boys was back home in March and an applaudable 1-1 draw with Slovakia, Mattia Veselji from the 12-yard spot earning Malta a deserved equalizer.
U21 Team Coach Francesco Macri at the closure of this end-of-season training camp had this to say, “We had really long time with the players, they worked tirelessly, myself and the rest of the coaching staff also noticed significant improvement both in terms of attitude and work-ethic by the players in their commitment to improving, as always the end of the season brings up some fatigue, but overall we’re pleased with the resilience and desire by the players over this training camp.
“This has also been a fruitful experience for myself, and the rest of my staff, Jonathan (Holland), Charles (Sciberras), and Karl (Attard), we thank the Association for this opportunity and look forward to the 90 minutes on Tuesday”, Francesco Macri stressed.
North Macedonia
Coach Macri added, “Our opponents on Tuesday are a very strong side, we’ve followed them on videos, and we understand they are a tough nut to crack, they also possess formidable individuals in their playing staff, with few foreign based also amongst their ranks, playing their trade in Portugal, Slovakia, also a key member of this North Macedonian team playing an important role with the first team of Dinamo Kyiv”.
“We want to perform at the best of our abilities, as always ball possession and tactical discipline are fundamental to stand a chance of a positive result in the 90 minutes on Tuesday, barring other aspects of the game as we’re aware we will face a side with plenty of physical ability, but we are positive in a solid performance and then we see the result”, U21 Coach Francesco Macri concluded.
Source: MFA
