Watch: Australian midfielder Jake Brimmer switches international allegiance to Malta

Emilio De Leo is set to have a new player eligible to play for the Malta national team, as it has been revealed that Australia-based midfielder Jake Brimmer has become eligible to represent our country at the international level.

A report on the Australian League website said that the 27-year-old has represented Australia at numerous youth levels, including under-17s and under-20, but has now opted to switch his allegiance to Malta.

The news comes as no surprise, as in the past months, Malta FA president Bjorn Vassallo had said many times that he was looking to bring more players of Maltese origin to the national team set-up.

In an interview on the SportsDesk podcast in May, Vassallo admitted that the MFA is still looking to bring more players of Maltese descent to join the national team, something that even bigger countries are doing at the moment, he argued.

“We have young and experienced players as well as players of Maltese descent that are new to the group, and I cannot exclude that we will have more foreign-based players joining this team to make our side more competitive,” he said.

“Our birth rate in Malta is decreasing, and we need to be on the lookout for players of Maltese origins to join our national team and make sure we don’t miss out on this opportunity.”

If the news is confirmed, Brimmer will bring plenty of experience to the national team, having played over 170 A-League matches for the likes of Perth Glory, Melbourne Victory, and now Auckland FC.

Malta will be next in action in the World Cup qualifiers on September 4 when they travel to Vilnius to take on Lithuania in a crucial clash in the team’s bid to avoid bottom spot in the group.

Following that clash, Malta will then have a home clash against the Netherlands in October before facing Bosnia and Herzegovina in an international friendly clash.

Last year, the Malta FA brought in its national set-up another Australian-born player, Trent Buhagiar, who featured in last year’s UEFA Nations League matches against Andorra and Moldova.