Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/899902
maltatoday SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017 Sports 54 WARREN ZAMMIT MALTA national team coach Tom Saintfiet has emphasised that the Maltese national team needs to be a more offensive-play minded side, warning that Es- tonia, who Malta is facing in an international match tomorrow, is a strong side that has improved a lot lately. Addressing a press conference today, he pointed out that Esto- nia are 80th in the world rank- ings, while Malta are 182nd. In addition, the National coach also made it clear that the Estonians are "physically much stronger," than the Maltese footballers. When asked about what chang- es he will bring to the Maltese national team, Saintfiet pointed out that the national team has been going through a bad patch and that it was time to make some changes. The coach announced that he would be shifting the team's formation from 5-3-1-1 to 4-2-3-1. This is expected to lead to a more attacking approach; how- ever the Belgian coach insisted results will take time as it is not only the coach who should im- plement changes, but also the clubs, who he said should be "more professional" and favour Maltese players instead of for- eign ones. A stark change in the squad was the exclusion of Bjorn Kristensen. Saintfiet's explana- tion for Kristensen's absence was that the Hibernians mid- fielder had been sidelined for some time due to injury, while Ryan Fenech was going through a much better run of form. "This is healthy, " the national coach said, "as it is not beneficial to always be certain that you will be selected." Saintfiet also decided to call up young players such as Kyrian Nwoko and Stefan Cassar. De- spite this, the Belgian coach in- sisted that he will not burn these players out and will only give them some experience at inter- national level. Malta's coach also hinted that not all of those play- ers might feature in tomorrow's match. Asked by this newspaper about the benefits of having senior play- ers such as Michael Mifsud and Andre Schembri training togeth- er with young players, Saintfiet stated that it is very important to have both sets of players together. The press conference was also addressed by national team cap- tain Michael Mifsud. The veteran player asserted he was not plan- ning on retiring from the nation- al team any time soon, adding he still felt he has a lot to contribute. Malta will face Estonia tomor- row at the national stadium, kick- ing off at 15:00. FOOTBALL WEIGHTLIFTING Tom Saintfiet set to adopt a more offensive approach Tom Saintfiet and Michael Mifsud addressing the media Weightlifting team for the Mediterranean cup and Ljubljana Open THE Malta Weightlifting As- sociation are delighted to announce the team that will be travelling to Slo- venia for the XI Weight- lifting Mediterranean Cup & Ljubljana Open between the 16th and 19th of November. Head of delegation Kurt Camilleri will lead the team of 8 ath- letes, which includes 3 women and 5 men. The females in the team are Maltese Senior Cham- pions Yazmin Zammit Ste- vens and Elisia Scicluna, along with Maltese youth Champion Shelby Mangion Vassallo. The male side of the team con- sists of Malta's Junior Champi- on Kieran Mifsud, who recently put in an excellent performance in Albania at the European Jun- ior Championships. Rodman Pulis, who's looking to make his first international comeback since his injury at the Euro- pean Senior Championships in 2016, will also compete. Mifsud and Pulis will be accompanied by Matthew Camilleri, Anton Micallef and Andy Grech. Ro- dienne Balzan will be assisting the event as referee of the com- petition. The athletes will be repre- senting Malta in two separate teams. Scicluna, Mangion Vas- sallo, Pulis, Grech, Micallef and Camilleri will be the team competing as part of the XI Weightlifting Mediterranean Cup, while Zammit Stevens and Mifsud will be compet- ing as a team in the Ljubljana Open. Both Zammit Stevens and Mifsud are currently in the early stages of their preparatory training for the 2018 Common- wealth Games. Yazmin Zammit Stevens is training in Ljubljana with Slo- venia national team coach Damjan Canzek for the two weeks prior to the competi- tion. The training camp is one of many important training camps the MWA are organising to ensure the best preparation is done for future Games. Malta Weightlifting As- sociation are delighted to announce the team that will be travelling to Slo- The females in the team are Maltese Senior Cham- pions Yazmin Zammit Ste- vens and Elisia Scicluna, along with Maltese youth Champion