The Malta’s women’s national team kicks off its UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign on Friday evening with an away fixture against Cyprus (kick-off: 6pm), aiming to secure an immediate return to League B.
The match marks Malta’s second stint in League C, a crucial phase for coach Manuela Tesse, who recently extended her contract for four more years and will be now assisted by Piero Panzanaro, coach of the Malta boys U-16.
Under her guidance, the team is determined to reclaim its place among the stronger nations in the women’s game.
Having already won promotion from League C in its debut campaign, Malta will be looking to repeat that success, further cementing its progress on the international stage.
Ranked 86th in the world, Malta enters the competition as clear favorites to top Group C2, which also features Cyprus (133), Georgia (119), and Andorra (183).
“I am sure that this UEFA Women’s Nations League will be a good experience for our team, because we sometimes underestimate how strong we are,” Tesse told a news conference.
“We do not need to think that we are underdogs. This is not a reset, but a restart of our philosophy,” she said.
In her provisional squad, the Italian coach named 27 players, including England-born Fiona Buttigieg and Oceane Grange, a French native.
Buttigieg, whose husband is Maltese, is typically a fullback but can cover the winger role too. She is on the books of Luton Town, featuring in the fifth-tier of England.
Buttigieg is at the back of a goal for her club in a 5-0 win over AFC Dunstable in a Women’s Senior Cup semi-final, last weekend.
On the other hand, Grange, who obtained Maltese citizenship through her grandparents, plays for RC Roubaix Wervicq Féminin in the third level of French football. She plays as a defender and was part of her side’s French Cup tie against top-tier side Paris FC, last month.
In addition, Tesse has called up young midfielder Jana Barbara. She plays for Schalke 04 in the regional leagues of Germany and has already represented Malta at youth level.
“I have been following the new players for over a year and a half, so we have been monitoring them very closely,” Tesse stated.
In addition, Tesse highlighted the improvement in the local women’s league which this year sees all Top Four teams – Hibernians, Swieqi United, Mġarr United and Birkirkara – taking the title race to the distance.
From the initial squad, she dropped four players in goalkeeper Maya Cachia, defender Tammy Falzon, midfielder Amber Grech and forward Jade Flask.
However, Cachia was recalled to the squad after fellow goalkeeper Patricia Ebejer picked up an injury in the final session and will skip the match.
Cyprus, on their part, are looking to improve on what they did in their previous Nations League Campaign when they chalked up seven points from six matches.
This tournament will mark their only fifth appearance in a UEFA or FIFA qualifying campaign having made their debut in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 preliminaries.
Their squad includes two England-based players in Maria Mattheou (Athlone Town) and Andrea Cusick (part of Chelsea’s Academy).
The majority of the players, though, feature in the local championship which has been hampered by a serious of difficult circumstances.
Last month, one of the participating clubs – Lefkothea – withdrew from the Cypriot Women’s First Division due to financial difficulties and sparked the departure of a significant number of footballers.
Meanwhile, players from one of the league’s other clubs, Karmiotissa, have been on strike from training and matches with most of them having been unpaid since the start of the season.
As it stands, the league is operating with four teams including Rachel Cuschieri’s former side Apollon Ladies who are topping the championship.
Fifteen years ago, the Cypriot women’s league had 14 teams competing and only one team still exists.
Malta and Cyprus met on five occasions, with both nations winning two matches.
Their last meeting was on February 28, 2019, when a Brenda Borg goal was enough to hand Malta a narrow victory in the Aphrodite Cup hosted by Cyprus.
