Courtesy: FAI Futsal Portal


Fingal in with a Sporting chance in UEFA Futsal Cup!

Monday, 16 August 2010

Today at 4pm GMT, the futsal players of Sporting Fingal begin their campaign to be the first Irish club to qualify from the preliminary round of the UEFA Futsal Cup.

They begin with a daunting task of overcoming local favourites, Nautara Kaunas who qualified for the later rounds for three consecutive seasons.
However, Fingal have prepared well for the task ahead and a good performance against the locals will set up a historic chance to qualify against the Armenian Champions, Kaghsi Yerevan tomorrow.
Fingal Coach Junior Da Silva was in buoyant form as the team departed for Lithuania yesterday and while he acknowledges the difficulty of the task facing his team, he remains optimistic of pulling off a surprise. Said Da Silva; “Kaunas is an experienced futsal club with good form in this competition. However, we will try to give a really good account of ourselves and represent the Sporting Fingal name very well. I know the Sporting football team performed very well in the Europa League against Maritimo and I would like to follow their example and reinforce the name of the club in UEFA competitions as a competitive force”
Fingal feature a number of talented Brazilian players in their side including Rodrigo de Melo, Helio Lima and former FAI Futsal Cup player of the tournament, Hygo Cesar. However, goalkeeper Ian Carry who works as Schools Development Officer for the FAI and Republic of Ireland Futsal international Ross Zambra are both looking forward to their UEFA debuts.
Said Zambra: “I only recently began playing futsal in the last two years but have really enjoyed the sport. It’s a very technical and high paced game but extremely satisfying because of the amount of time you are directly involved in the action. Playing Futsal has given me the opportunity to represent my country in games against France and Norway which were a great experience. Now, I’m playing in a UEFA Competition and am really looking forward to the experience. Hopefully, we can do well and establish the reputation of Ireland as a developing futsal country. While it will be a difficult task, all the lads will give it their best shot!”
Sporting Fingal’s schedule is as follows:
Group A

16-18/8/2010
Kaunas (Lithuania)
Hall: S.Darius & S.Girenas Sport Center

Teams
FK Nautara Kaunas (LTU)
FC Kaghsi Yerevan (ARM)
Sporting Fingal FC (IRL)

16/8/2010
18.00 Nautara Kaunas - Sporting Fingal
17/8/2010
18.00 Sporting Fingal - Kaghsi Yerevan
18/8/2010
18.00 Kaghsi Yerevan - Nautara Kaunas




Courtesy: FAI


Sporting Fingal UEFA Futsal Cup

Tuesday, 17 August 2010

SPORTING FINGAL EID stand on the brink of a historic UEFA Futsal Cup qualification after beating Lithuanian side Nautara Kaunas yesterday.

A brilliant performance from the Dubliners secured a remarkable 5-3 win for the FAI Futsal Cup winners over the host club in the Preliminary Round qualifying group in Kaunas.

This means that another positive result for Sporting against Kaghsi Yerevan today would see an Irish side into the main qualifying round of the UEFA Futsal Cup for the first time.

Sporting got off to a great start when Brazilian Hygo Cezar put them ahead in the fifth minute but this lead only lasted until the eighth minute when Tomas Nemanis levelled for the hosts.

Coached by Junior Da Silva, the Irish side reacted calmly when Justas Gulbinas put Nautara ahead in the 12th minute and they equalised five minutes later when Arturas Karmazinas was forced into an own goal.

Fingal were very impressive after the break and regained the lead in the 28th minute when Irish international Ross Zambra scored.

The fast paced nature of futsal could be best summed up by the 37th minute when Nemanis levelled again for Kaunas but just nine seconds later Hygo Cezar netted again.

Goalkeeper Marcin Fornal then became the hero for Fingal when he bagged a fifth goal in the final minute.

This is the fourth time an Irish club has played in the UEFA Futsal Cup and it was the third victory recorded at that level following wins for Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

But the crucial difference is that this victory in their opening fixture puts Fingal in control of their group

If Sporting can top their group they will go into the main qualifying round Group Three where last year's semi-finalists Araz Nexcivan of Azerbaijan, Latvia's FK Nikars Riga and hosts City US Targu Mures of Romania wait.

"This result is a fantastic achievement for everybody involved in futsal in Ireland," FAI Futsal co-ordinator Derek O'Neill.

"Sporting Fingal EID were worthy winners of the FAI Futsal Cup and are in excellent form in the Emerald Futsal League and this result shows the level our clubs are capable of reaching on the higher stage.

"A lot of credit must go to their coach Junior and the players for this result and everybody involved in futsal in Ireland will be hoping they can go on and secure an historic place in the next round of the competition."

Sporting Fingal EID squad: Marcin Fornal; Anderson Nunes, Rodrigo De Melo, Hygo Cezar, Isaias Lima; Ian Carry, Ross Zambra, Paul Fetherston, Helio Neto, Leandro Maia, Sergiu Musteata, Junior Da Silva (Player-coach).




Courtesy: FAI


Derek O'Neill hails Sporting Fingal EID

Wednesday, 18 August 2010

Sporting Fingal EID 7-3 Kaghsi Yerevan (Armenia)

FAI National Futsal Coordinator hailed Sporting Fingals' progression to the next stage of the UEFA Futsal Cup as a watershed for Irish club Futsal. The Dublin side made it two wins in a row on Tuesday by defeating Kaghsi Yerevan in Lithuania to become the first Irish team to advance from the preliminary phase of a UEFA Futsal competition.
Said O'Neill; "This is the fourth season where Ireland has been represented in the UEFA Futsal Cup. Previous participants have had mixed fortunes but the difference this time was in preparation. Fingal have been competing in the Leinster Emerald Futsal league and have trained regularly as a futsal team. Previous Irish participants have tended to be 11 a side players dabbling in Futsal but now we have a situation where players can play futsal on a more regular basis."

Fingal now progress to Group Three of the main qualifying round alongside last year's UEFA semi-finalists Araz Nexcivan (Azerbaijan), FK Nikars Riga (Latvia) and hosts US Targu Mures of Romania.

Following a stunning 5-3 victory over host club Nautara Kaunas in Monday's opener, the Irish side knew another win against Armenian Champions Kaghsi Yerevan 24 hours later would finish them top of the group.

The Irish side raced into a two-goal lead inside eight minutes through goals by Rodrigo de Melo and Anderson Nunes.

Despite Yerevan pulling one back before the break, Ross Zambra made Fingal's dominance count with a cracking third goal before Nunes bagged his second of the game.

The Armenians then scored two goals in quick succession to narrow the gap but Hygo Cesar's impressive brace in the last five minutes followed by de Melo's second of the game in the dying moments sealed the outcome.

"Sporting's qualification for the next stage is an historic moment for Irish futsal and everybody involved in the game in Ireland is very proud of what they have achieved," said O'Neill.

"The performances also show that our own Emerald Futsal League is a worthy competition that can hopefully develop further on the back of this fantastic set of results.

"Futsal was only introduced to Ireland relatively recently but it has made great strides in recent years. Sporting was the fourth winner of the FAI Futsal Cup and currently lead the Emerald Futsal League, which is only in its second season. The formation of similar leagues countrywide is a priority for us now and it will give players new opportunities to follow Fingal's notable achievements "

Sporting Fingal EID squad: Marcin Fornal; Anderson Nunes, Rodrigo De Melo, Hygo Cezar, Isaias Lima; Ian Carry, Ross Zambra, Paul Fetherston, Helio Neto, Leandro Maia, Sergiu Musteata, Junior Da Silva (Player-coach).


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