Malta U-21 coach Agius names squad for European Championship qualifiers

Malta U-21 coach Gilbert Agius finalised his squad for his team’s opening commitments in the European Championship qualifiers.

The Maltese youngsters will host Northern Ireland at the Centenary Stadium on Friday before a trip to Moscow to face Russia on September 7.

The other teams forming part of Group C are Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain.

For Agius these will be his first competitive matches since replacing Silvio Vella as Malta U-21 coach last March.

The former Valletta striker has a squad of players that in its majority has little experience at this level but holds bags of potential.

Agius has welcomed back in the fray Carlo Zammit Lonardelli, who missed the Croatia training camp last summer, while there were also call-ups for Christian Gauci, who has been a regular at Valletta FC this season, Mattia Veselji, who has just joined Floriana FC, and Jake Engerer, who is on the books of Sliema Wanderers.

THE SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Dylan Ciappara, Duncan Formosa, Amara Sylla.

Defenders: Glenn Attard, Matthew Ellul, Christian Gauci, Karl Mohnani, Owen Spiteri, Carlo Zammit Lonardelli.

Midfielders: Ayrton Attard, Jean Paul Attard, Emerson Camilleri, Aleandro Garzia, Marcus Grima, Adam Magri Overend, Liam McKay, Andreas Vella.

Forwards: Jamie Carbone, Jake Engerer, Jeremy Micallef, Bradley Sciberras, Jamie Sixsmith, Mattia Veselji.