Courtesy: Daily Star


Lebanon to face Turkey, Palestine in first ever Mediterranean Futsal tournament

By Joe Soubaih

Friday, October 15, 2010

BEIRUT: In the first ever Mediterranean futsal tournament, Lebanon will be competing in group four, a difficult group also containing Turkey, Croatia and Palestine.

The tournament is expected to be competitive with a total 16 teams taking part, and will be hosted in the Libyan capital Tripoli from the November 1-10. The groups have been drawn as follows: Group one: Greece, Libya, Syria, Morocco; group two: Slovenia, France, Albania, Algeria; group three: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Malta and Tunisia.

Lebanon, which has managed several quarter-final appearances in the Asian Cup, is well positioned to make it into one of the two quarter-final spots. Croatia – ranked 21st in the world – is the major team to look out for, with defenders such as Fran Disbitovich (Futsalplanet note: Frane Despotovic), who was called up for two World All Star team friendly games against Brazil earlier this year.

Turkey will also be a serious contender, as despite the retirement of several key players, Turkish coach Omar Kaer (Futsalplanet note: Omer Kaner) still has tricks up his sleeve, such as Yasine Urdal and Murat Tubal (Futsalplanet note: Yasin Erdal and Murat Topal).

Lebanese coach Dory Zakhour has been training the team vigorously over the last few weeks, as this tournament is not one to be taken lightly. Returning to the ranks is goalkeeper Sarkis Eskejian, who had to miss the recent Asian Cup.

Simon Douaihy, a member of the higher council of the Lebanese Football Association, said that the tournament would be an important step for gaining valuable experience.

“This is like a microcosm of the World Cup,” he said.


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