Courtesy: The FA.com


Shoot some hoops for the Euros

By Matt Phillips

Thursday, 18 June, 2009

Partially-Sighted squad to acclimatise for Futsal tournament on wooden courts.

England’s Partially-Sighted squad start their 2009 European Championship preparations next week where they’re swapping the football pitch for a basketball court.

The indoor Futsal tournament, which takes place in Nantes and runs parallel to the Blind European Championships, will be played on a wooden surface and England Head Coach, Graham Keeley, is looking to recreate those conditions at the squad’s training camp.

"We’ve booked the north-west Basketball Centre in Greater Manchester for our pre-tournament training sessions as that will give the players some experience of playing Futsal on a wooden surface.

"We’ve got Futsal goals being brought up to the centre as well so we’re confident that we’ll be well prepared for our first game on 28 June."

England have been drawn against France, Turkey and the current world champions Ukraine.

Keeley commented: "Ukraine are a very physical side and they really grind down the opposition so it’s going to be a difficult game for us.

"France are the hosts so they’ll have a lot of local support while Turkey are quite new to Partially-Sighted football and we’ve beaten them convincingly in the past.

"We’re rated third in the world so I’m hoping that we can claim a semi-final place at the very least."

Keeley’s squad are taken from clubs involved in the Visually Impaired Football League while some participate in mainstream Futsal and 11-a-side.

"Competition rules allow two sighted goalkeepers in the squad so we’re taking Brendan Dix who works for Somerset FA and Karl Valentine who was on the books at Wigan Athletic.

"Steve Daley is a key outfield player for us and is the team Captain while Dionne Grant is your typical Futsal player with a few tricks up his sleeve and a good first touch.

"If those two are on song then we’ll be a real handful in our group games," said Keeley.

England Partially-Sighted Squad

Goalkeepers
Brendan Dix
Karl Valentine

Outfield Players
Nick Thomas
Andy Lang
John Mc Dougall
Ryan Kelly
Steve Daley
Michael Kelly
Kevin Price
Dionne Grant








Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com