Group 9 mini-tournament preview

The Group 9 mini-tournament begins on Tuesday 5 March with Malta, Moldova and hosts Armenia all looking to book a place in this summer’s UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals in Denmark.

Evenly matched
This mini-tournament looks set to be one of the tightest – all three sides appear fairly evenly matched and will be keen to grab the opportunity of qualifying for a major UEFA tournament.

Team guide:

Malta
Form guide 2000/01: Eliminated in the qualifying group stage after coming third (out of three) in Group 9.

Squad: Andrew Hogg, Bernard Paris, Claudio Ellul, Kurt Formosa, Josef Lia, Carl Sammut, Jean Paul Scerri, Kenneth Spiteri, Karl Agius, Cleaven Frendo, Elliot Navarro, Andre Schembi, Julian Vella, Thomas Caruana, Andrew, Coleiro, Ryan Darmanin, Dyson Falzon, Stephen Magri.

Moldova
Form guide 2000/01: Eliminated in the qualifying group stage after coming fourth (out of four) in Group 7.

Squad: Adrian Negai, Anatol Boestean, Maxim Frantuz, Tudor Vlaicu, Vitalie Manaliu, Denis Calinov, Alexandu Epureanu, Semion Bulgaru, Alexandru Vlasov, Victor Bulat, Vitalie Chisca, Maxim Sambra, Alexandru Lujanschi, Andrei Cara, Vladimir, Ursu, Nicolae Orlovski, Ghenadie Mosneaga.

Armenia
Form guide 2000/01: Eliminated in the qualifying group stage after coming third (out of four) in Group 7.

Squad: Stepan Kazaryan, Vladimir Vardanyan, Artur Harutyunyan, Artak Shahinyan, Arman Andreasyan, Armen Tigranyan, Karen Stepanyan, Artur Hovhannisyan, Mher    Nazaretyan, Armen Petrosyan, Arman  Kazaryan, Sevada Hovhannisyan, Karen Nazaryan, Andranik Tadevosyan, Sergey  Bagdasaryan, Armen Mkrtchyan, Edward Harutyunyan, Aram Hovhannisyan, Ara Hovhannisyan, Areg Avagyan, Myasnik  Fidanyan.

Match schedule:
5 March: Armenia v Malta, Sportcomplex (16.00).
7 March: Moldova v Malta, Sportcomplex (16.00).
9 March: Armenia v Moldova, Sportcomplex (16.00)

All kick-offs are local time.

N.B.: The form guide refers to games played in the 2000/01 UEFA European Under-16 Championship, the direct forerunner of the Under-17 event.