Warm-ups before French test

Malta have announced two friendlies as part of their preparations for their next UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifiers.

Island trip
Siegfred Held's men will travel to the Spanish island of Mallorca on 28 December to play a Balearic Islands eleven. Then, in February, Malta will play host to Kazakhstan, the newest UEFA member association, at the National stadium.

Vella hope
Scottish-based defender Simon Vella, who plays for Airdrie United FC, has been called into the squad for the game in Mallorca, although his club side have an important league match scheduled for the same evening. He has not figured in Held's plans since last February and he is desperate to play.

Still interested
"I really want to play for Malta," he said. "I was so pleased that the Malta FA recalled me for the match, because this shows that they are still very interested in me donning the Malta jersey."

Dimech out
One notable absentee will be defender Luke Dimech, who plays in the Republic of Ireland for Shamrock Rovers FC.  His side have a Premier League match against Drogheda United on the eve of Malta's match against the Balearics and he will not be available.

No points
Malta have it all to do in their EURO 2004™ qualifying group. They are bottom of Group 1, with no points from their first four matches. Their next qualifier is on 29 March against the holders France in Paris.