Futsal Planet

Libya vs France

OFFICIAL MATCH REPORT

Libya left it extremely late against France in the semi final to score the winning goal after coming back from one goal down at the half time break. The 23rd September Hall went ballistic as MVP Suleiman did the hard work for Bader to slot in with only 26 seconds on the clock.

It was a heartbreaking blow to the French who had gone toe to toe with a team 35 places above them in the World Rankings, not to mention a team with thousands of fans backing them on home soil, and almost taken the game to penalties.

Libya came out of the blocks flying and probably should have had a goal in the first 2 minutes when Bader, recalled to the team after a spell out injured; hit a shot that looked like it went in off the bar before bouncing out. The referees didn’t give it and play went on. Maybe futsal should also join the goal line technology debate. In all the commotion Alexandre Teixeira brought down Elshwain on the edge of the box and received a yellow card. The free kick came to nothing.

Libya looked like scoring, and the noise of whistles when France were on the ball was deafening and must surely have been an unwelcome distraction and Elshwain had a fantastic chance if he arrived at the far post a second earlier.

Despite Libya’s positive attacking play, it was France who took the lead. Ibrahim Saidi was ahead of the Libyan defence as they poured forward and a first time shot was too much for Alsharif and France had taken a shock lead that would test the character of the hosts.

It was one way traffic and Libya bombarded Haroun’s goal with shots and got into good positions on plenty of occasions but France dug deep and kept them out until half time. They were sitting back and quickly getting men behind the ball, and why wouldn’t they in this situation? Libya had to come at France and maybe they could break on the counter attack.

Suleiman was in top form and he fashioned a few good chances himself including one on the right wing by the touchline when he had nowhere to go. Some exquisite skill saw him get round the defender but Haroun was quick to react and shot off his line to clear for a corner. Rahoma was also causing problems to the French but Libya still couldn’t get a breakthrough. If and when it was to come, the place would erupt.

France only had 15 minutes to hold out for a memorable victory, and Libya could be forgiven for getting frustrated. Cue Rahoma, the classy number 10 and some great vision on the left to see Shahout arriving at the far post and Libya and sent the fans into rapture. It was a perfect ball diagonally across the area and it squeezed through for Shahout to tap in from close range.

Libya were level to the relief of the onlooking Saadi Abdussalem and thousands of supporters.

Alsharif, who was relatively quiet in goal for Libya was ready when needed and had made some important saves already. When Samir Alla beat his man on the left and he found a teammate free who was one on one. Alsharif did excellently to save and keep Libya on level terms. Whoever scored next would surely win the game so that save was vital. Unfortunately, it was his last action of the game as he was carried off injured, meaning his understudy Fatah came on with a few minutes remaining. Teixeira was back on, could he win it for France?

Each team had chances towards the end of the game but even when Suleiman shot after a corner came his way, and the keeper was out of position, somehow Haroun scrambled back across goal to get a touch and divert wide. Suleiman should have wrapped it up after a great team move saw him enter the area unmarked and once again, Haroun was his equal. This game was heading for penalties.

Libya took a time out with 1m37 on the clock. What could Pablo Prieto say to influence his players now? Both teams had been going for this game, neither wanted penalties, especially Libya with Alsharif out of the game.

And cue the amazing scenes. With only 26 seconds on the clock, Suleiman fed a ball through to the outstanding Bader and he managed to turn it in to send the 23rd September Hall into a cauldron of noise. France were left heartbroken, but nobody in that stadium apart from the French cared. This was Libya’s moment and while it would have been an amazing achievement for France to reach the final, nobody can deny that they had gone further than most predicted.

France will take some time to get over the heartache, but when they do they will be proud of their progress and only to lose to a last minute goal shows that they are on their way to competing with the top teams in the world.

Libya have set up a dream final against Croatia and former coach Mato Stankovic. They have played some beautiful futsal, but haven’t been as effective as their opponents from Eastern Europe. Now they come face to face with Croatia in what promises to be an epic final.

Suleiman took the MVP award for his outstanding performance and assist for the winning goal.

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