Courtesy: The FA.com


Big day for BUCS

Wednesday, 25 August, 2010

Great Britain Futsal squads make an impression at World University Championships.

The Great Britain mens' and women's Futsal teams have a big third day of action ahead of them after both squads made positive starts to the 12th World University Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Great Britain women take on tournament favourites Brazil today and the match will be the British girl’s toughest test of the tournament thus far, but they go into the game off the back of their first ever Futsal victory, a 10-1 win over hosts Serbia.

Women's Head Coach, Paul Tassell, has been pleased with how the team have applied themselves.

"The girls have quickly taken on board the complexities of the game, highlighted by our performance against Serbia," he said. "We have only ever played two games at this level, but they are learning really quickly and progressively building on every training session and match."

The women made their international debut as Great Britain against Russia, finishing the game with a 5-0 defeat. With many of the players coming into the tournament with limited experience of playing Futsal compared to their counterparts, the team were ecstatic with their 10-1 win over Serbia. Goals from hat-trick hero Sophie Perry (Brighton), braces for Grace McCatty (Bath) and Vicky Jones (Liverpool Hope) along with single strikes from Kelly Jones (Liverpool Hope), Sophie Walton (Leeds Met) and Lizzie Edwards (Brighton) secured GB's first win, much to the pleasure of Tassell.

Brazil come into the game against the British off the back of two impressive wins beating Serbia 27-1, followed by a 9-1 victory over France. This encounter will be another big part of the players' development, something Team Manager Chris Welburn believes is a massive part of the tournament experience.

"The players are developing as people, adapting to fresh ideas and testing themselves at the highest level," he commented. "It is credit to the players that they are rising to the challenges they have faced in a very short period of time."

Great Britain men's team, who take on Oman in their last group game, will be looking for a third place finish in Group C. The men's team go into the game after excellent performances, but narrow defeats, against hotly fancied Russia (2-5) and Ukraine (1-2). Despite the defeats, Great Britain men's Captain Neil Morgan (Loughborough) has been happy with the way things have started.

"It's a great stepping stone for all the squad," he revealed. "The games here are so much quicker and more tactical than we are used to and you notice the step up instantaneously."

To make the jump to this international stage, the GB Team have held training camps in order to prepare themselves to bridge the gap. Not only have these camps allowed Head Coach Michael Skubala to work with his players, it has also made the squad understand the demands of a tournament environment.

Futsal was only introduced as an official BUCS sport in season 2007-08 with the BUCS Championship now the only regular competition format for women's Futsal on a national stage and offering the largest men's competition in the UK so BUCS Football Development Manager George Carney is delighted with the progress of the development of Futsal in the HE sector.

"Seeing the level of opposition that both our men's and women's players are up against justifies all the hard work the players, staff and volunteers have put in. I am really pleased to be able to watch players that excelled at the BUCS Championships tested against international calibre players," he commented.


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