Malta national teams’ head coach Michele Marcolini has included Luke Tabone, Yannick Yankam, an Kyrian Nwoko in his final squad ahead of Thursday’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje.
The national team will be leaving the islands today to step up their preparations for their opening Euro 2024 against Macedonia before hosting European champions Italy at the Nationa Stadium on Sunday.
For Tabone, this will be his first inclusion in a Malta squad ahead of international fixture and is fitting reward for a solid campaign for the Gozitan defender who has been a reliable figure in Darren Abdilla’s Gżira United team this season.
Tabone is set to fill the void left by Birkirkara defender Enrico Pepe who failed to recover his full fitness and was omitted from the squad along with Valletta’s Triston Caruana.
On the other hand, for Birkirkara midfielder Yannick Yankam his inclusion marks a return to the senior squad after failing to be involved in the most recent qualifiers that were played last November which saw the team hold Greece to a 2-2 draw and the suffer a 1-0 defeat to Ireland.
Among the midfielders who failed to make the cut are Gżira United’s Steve Pisani, Adam Magri Overend and Matias Garcia, both of Floriana.
Santa Lucia striker Nwoko is in line to make his international return for his country as he was included in the final squad as one of the strikers and will look to fill the void left by Hibernians forward Jurgen Degabriele who suffered an injury in his last appearance with his club in the Premier League.
Nwoko has been rediscovering his best form with Santa Lucia in the past few weeks, highlighted by his match-winning brace against Pieta Hotspurs that kept alive his team’s hopes of avoiding the drop.
Marcolini has included all his four foreign-based players, namely James Brown, of St Johnstone, Farense defender Zach Muscat, Royal Union St Gilloise’s midfielder Teddy Teuma, and striker Jodi Jones who is on the books of Notts County.
MALTA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Henry Bonello (Ħamrun Spartans), Cain Formosa (Valletta), Matthew Grech (Sirens).
Defenders: Ferdinando Apap (Hibernians), Luke Tabone (Gżira United), Steve Borg (Ħamrun Spartans), Karl Micallef (Gudja United), James Brown (St. Johnston), Zach Muscat (Farense).
Midfielders: Juan Corbalan (Ħamrun Spartans), Ryan Camenzuli (Ħamrun Spartans), Matthew Guillaumier (Ħamrun Spartans), Cain Attard (Birkirkara), Nikolai Muscat (Gżira United), Bjorn Kristensen (Hibernians), Brandon Paiber (Valletta), Yannick Yankam (Birkirkara), Teddy Teuma (R.U. Saint Gilloise), Joseph Mbong (Ħamrun Spartans FC).
Forwards: Shaun Dimech (Valletta), Jodi Felice Jones (Notts Country), Kyrian Nwoko (Santa Lucia), Paul Mbong (Birkirkara), Alexander Satariano (Balzan).
