With group leaders Italy missing this round of fixtures, second placed Bulgaria and third placed Czech Republic can make up some ground to put the Italians under pressure. Group underachievers Denmark need to defeat the Czechs on Friday as they sit in 5th place with only 2 points from three games. Bulgarian coach Luboslav Penev included three uncapped players in his 25-man squad for the  qualifiers against Malta and Denmark. The domestic-based trio of Slavia Sofia defender Radoslav Dimitrov, Litex Lovech’s teenage midfielder Simeon Slavchev and Botev Plovdiv striker Todor Nedelev, who turned 20 last month, have been given the chance of winning a first cap at home to Malta on March 22 and away to Denmark four days later. Bulgaria vs. Malta will take place behind closed doors at the Vasil Levski stadium after their fans were found guilty by FIFA of racist behaviour.

Bulgaria v Malta, Friday 16:00

 

BULGARIA – Goalkeepers: Nikolay Mihaylov (FC Twente), Vladislav Stoyanov (Ludogorets), Plamen Iliev (Levski Sofia)

Defenders: Pavel Vidanov (Zaglebie Lubin), Petar Zanev (Volin Lutsk), Yordan Minev (Ludogorets), Radoslav Dimitrov (Slavia Sofia), Nikolay Bodurov (Litex), Iliya Milanov (Litex), Ivan Ivanov (Partizan Belgrade), Veselin Minev (Botev Plovdiv)

Midfielders: Georgi Sarmov (Kasimpasa), Stanislav Manolev (Fulham), Vladimir Gadzhev (Levski Sofia), Svetoslav Dyakov (Ludogorets), Georgi Iliev (Cherno More), Georgi Milanov (Litex), Hristo Zlatinski (Lokomotiv Plovdiv), Simeon Slavchev (Litex), Emil Gargorov (Ludogorets)

Strikers: Ivelin Popov (Kuban Krasnodar), Valeri Bojinov (Vicenza), Iliyan Mitsanski (Ingolstadt), Alexander Tonev (Lech Poznan), Todor Nedelev (Botev Plovdiv)

 

MALTA – Goalkeepers: Reuben Gauci (Birkirkara), Justin Haber (Birkirkara), Andrew Hogg (Enosis Neon Paralimni), Nicky Vella (Tarxien)

Defenders: Andrei Agius (Latina), Jacob Borg (Balzan), Ryan Camilleri (Hibs), Jonathan Caruana (Valletta), Luke Dimech (Valletta), Clayton Failia (Hibs), Clifford Gatt Baldacchino (Sliema Wanderers), Justin Griolo (Tarxien), Alex Muscat (Sliema), Joseph Zerafa (Birkirkara)

Midfielders: Shaun Bajada (Sliema), Roderick Briffa (Valletta), Paul Fenech (Birkirkara), Ryan Fenech (Valletta), Edward Herrara (Birkirkara), John Mintoff (Sliema Wanderers), Rowen Muscat (Birkirkara), Gareth Sciberras (Birkirkara)

Strikers: Danijel Bogdanovic (Valletta), Michael Mifsud (Valletta), Andrew Cohen (Hibs), Andre Schembri (Omonia Nicosia), Terence Vella (Hamrun)

 

Czech Republic v Denmark, Friday 19:30

 

CZECH REPUBLIC – Goalkeepers: Petr Čech (Chelsea), Jan Laštůvka (Dnipro), Tomáš Vaclík (Sparta Prague)

Defenders: Theo Gebre Selassie (Werder Bremen), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), Martin Latka (Fortuna Düsseldorf), David Limberský (Viktoria Plzeň), František Rajtoral (Viktoria Plzeň), Tomáš Sivok (Beşiktaş), Marek Suchý (Spartak Moscow)

Midfielders: Vladimír Darida (Viktoria Plzeň), Borek Dočkal (Rosenborg), Tomáš Hübschman (Shakhtar), Petr Jiráček (Hamburg), Daniel Kolář (Viktoria Plzeň), Ladislav Krejčí (Sparta Prague), Jaroslav Plašil (Bordeaux), Tomáš Rosický (Arsenal)

Strikers: David Lafata (Sparta Prague), Tomáš Pekhart (Nürnberg), Stanislav Tecl (Viktoria Plzeň), Matěj Vydra (Watford), Libor Kozak (Lazio)

 

DENMARK – Goalkeepers: Stephan Andersen (Evian), Jesper Hansen (FC Nordsjaelland), Kapser Schmeichel (Leicester City)

Defenders: Lars Jacobsen (FC Copenhagen), Daniel Agger (Liverpool), Simon Kjaer (Wolfsburg), Simon Poulsen (Sampdoria), Daniel Wass (Evian), Jores Okore (FC Nordsjaelland), Kris Stadsgaard (FC Copenhagen)

Midfielders: Daniel Jensen (FC Copenhagen), William Kvist (Stuttgart), Christian Eriksen (Ajax), Niki Zimling (Mainz), Lasse Schone (Ajax), Nicolai Stokholm (FC Nordsjaelland), Casper Sloth (Aarhus), Kasper Kusk (Aalborg)

Strikers: Dennis Rommedahl (Brondby), Michael Krohn-Dehli (Celta Vigo), Viktor Fischer (Ajax), Nicolai Jorgensen (FC Copenhagen), Simon Makienok (Brondby), Andreas Cornelius (FC Copenhagen)

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