Malta's finest mount Valletta defence

Paul Zammit is hoping that a Valletta FC side made up solely of Maltese players can fend off FC Artmedia Petržalka over two legs in the UEFA Champions League.

Huge task
Named Coach of the Season at the recent 2008 Malta Football Awards, Zammit faces a huge task on Tuesday as the second-highest ranked side in the first qualifying round come to the National Stadium in Ta'Qali. But he appealed to national pride as the game approached, announcing that an entirely Maltese selection would face the Slovakian champions. "The first XI taking the field tomorrow will be an all-Maltese lineup," he said. Since winning the title, Valletta have seen Nigerian Frank Temile, Argentinian Omar Sebastián Monesterolo and German Heiner Backhaus move on, while reinforcing their ranks with three Maltese internationals. Jamie Pace and Cleavon Frendo arrived from Marsaxlokk FC while Luke Dimech is back in the capital after a spell with English side Macclesfield Town FC.

'What we can do'
And after a seven-year absence from the UEFA Champions League, Zammit is ready to compete, saying: "Artmedia will be very difficult opponents in this first leg. We all know well that our team have been primed to go further in this competition, but we also know that this is a very big challenge for us all. I am quite happy with the pre-season training over the past five weeks. We are all ready to face this difficult challenge. It has been seven years since Valletta last played in the Champions League, and we intend to show what we can do."