Courtesy: The Queensland Times


Freiberg plays for World Cup keeps

by Joel Gould

21st January 2010

Zayne Freiberg’s dream of representing Australia at the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2012 is one step closer after he kept a clean sheet in Queensland’s 5-0 win over hosts NSW in the national final.

Freiberg, who also plays goalkeeper for the Ipswich Knights in Brisbane’s Division 1 competition, kept two clean sheets at the Vikings National Futsal Championships in Windsor, NSW.

The 21-year-old gained a taste for international competition last year when he represented a Football Federation of Australia (FFA) side in Spain.

The Australian squad for the 2012 World Cup must undergo a series of qualifiers and will be selected later this year. Freiberg’s performances in Windsor did his chances no harm.

“It is pretty rare to keep a clean sheet in futsal so I was pretty happy. The final was the best game that I played too,” Freiberg said.

“The World Cup is going to be a lot harder than what I played in last year because all of the teams will be there. But hopefully I can get into the squad.”

Queensland had a strong representation from the Ipswich West Moreton regional team with Freiberg, Scott Fenn, Ben Hunt and Luke Haydon all in the squad.

Freiberg enjoys his outdoor football but futsal is now the 21-year-old’s sport of choice.

“You are always in the game with futsal whereas with outdoor there are periods where you aren’t,” he said.

“There might be 10 seconds where you aren’t involved. In outdoor it can be 10 minutes. I love travelling as well and futsal gives me that opportunity.

“It definitely helps with outdoor too. It keeps you sharp and your reflexes up.”

The Ipswich Knights are one of three Ipswich teams in the Division 1 competition this year and Freiberg said the expectation ahead of the February 20 season kick-off was at a high.

“It is exciting. There are going to be some big games there,” he said.

“There will be a lot more local supporters at games and everyone is going to be raring to go for the season.

“All the players are talking about it too.”


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