Hermans selects squad for Futsal World Cup tournament

Malta futsal coach Vic Hermans has named a squad of 14 players for the 2020 FIFA Futsal World Cup Preliminary Tournament between January 30 and February 2, 2019. Sweden, the tournament hosts, Belgium and Armenia are Malta’s opponents in Group E. Hermans has retained the group of players who travelled to Northern Ireland for two friendly matches last week, adding only Karl Sciortino, who turns out for Pietà Hotspurs Futsal, to the list. Last weekend, Malta won their second friendly against Northern Ireland 3-1 after losing the opening match 4-2 at the Newry Leisure Centre. The warm-up matches were part of the team’s build-up for next week’s World Cup commitments in Alingsås. Hermans is pleased with the atmosphere in his squad ahead of their trip to Sweden. “I think the players have gained confidence after the win over Northern Ireland last week,” the national futsal coach. “Next week’s tournament will be very tough. We have two big teams (in our group)… Sweden have been coming up in the last few years, Belgium are always ranked high in the world rankings and there is also Armenia. “What I hope is that we will get our first points in a Futsal World Cup qualifying campaign.” Malta kick off their Group E schedule on Wednesday with a match against Belgium. The following day they meet hosts Sweden before wrapping up against Armenia on Saturday, February 2. MALTA FUTSAL SQUAD GOALKEEPERSStefan Vella (Valletta FC Futsal), Clint Mifsud (Luxol St Andrews Futsal). OUTFIELD PLAYERSNeil Cauchi (UoM Students Futsal), Lee Grech (UoM Students Futsal), Shataizan Zarb (Luxol St Andrews Futsal), Andrè Ciancio (Swieqi United Futsal), Andy Mangion (Luxol St Andrews Futsal), Mark Zammit (Luxol St Andrews Futsal), Rennie Tanti (Birkirkara Futsal), Matthew Attard (Luxol St Andrews Futsal), Jovica Milijic (Valletta FC Futsal), Karl Sciortino (Pietà Hotspurs Futsal), Giancarlo Sammut (Luxol St Andrews Futsal), George Frendo (Luxol St Andrews Futsal). MATCH SCHEDULEVenue: Estrad Alingsås, Alingsås (Sweden) 30th January, 201915:30 – Belgium vs Malta19:00 – Sweden vs Armenia 31st January, 201915:30 – Armenia vs Belgium19:00 – Sweden vs Malta 2nd February, 201913:30 – Malta vs Armenia17:00 – Belgium vs Sweden