Courtesy:
FAI.ieO’Neill names Futsal squad for UEFA qualifiersWednesday, 12 January 2011Republic of Ireland Senior Futsal Manager, Derek O'Neill today announced the squad to play in next week's UEFA Futsal Championship 2012 qualifying rounds in the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght.
The Republic of Ireland will kick off the tournament against Andorra (Thursday January 20 kick-off 20.00) and follow with games against Norway (Friday January 21 kick-off 20.00) and Israel (Sunday January 23 kick-off 20.00). Entry for supporters is free of charge.
The squad is made up primarily of players from the Emerald Futsal League which has just completed a successful second season with Shamrock Rovers being crowned champions. Unsurprisingly, the predominant representation of players comes from that Rovers squad with no fewer than seven of the fourteen squad places being secured by the club.
Another club well represented is Sporting Fingal whose UEFA Futsal Cup heroics in the summer has raised the profile of Irish Futsal in Europe. Team Captain Mark Langtry, Sweeper Ross Zambra and Goalkeeper Ian Carry have all tasted success with Sporting Fingal in European club futsal ‘s premier competition and are now looking forward to bringing that experience to the International stage.
Many of the players have previously represented Ireland at this level before so next week's tournament should represent an exciting challenge for them. Visiting Dublin will be the squads of Norway, Andorra and Israel to provide O'Neill's team with a stern test.
Norway visited Dublin last year and secured a narrow victory over the Irish. In a game which was snatched away from the Irish in the final seconds, the Irish players are eager to make amends.
Another player returning to form at the moment is Blue Magic Futsal player Lloyd Massey who will be remembered for a spectacular strike which helped secure Ireland's last victory in UEFA Competition against England. Lloyd will be playing alongside his brother Dane Massey for a third UEFA Futsal tournament and both players hope that it will be third time lucky to qualify from this stage.
Manager O'Neiil said: " The players are really looking forward to next week's tournament. Whereas previously we would use these matches to gain valuable experience for players, we now feel we are ready to make an impact on the tournament. There is now good competition for places with players of the quality of Joe Watson and Darren Kavanagh just waiting for their chance so it will certainly keep people on their toes going forward! Obviously, as we are relative newcomers to high level futsal, every match represents a stiff challenge and a learning curve for us but the players now believe they can do well next week and will give it their all."
Republic of Ireland Futsal Squad1. John
Somers (Shamrock Rovers Futsal)
2. Mark
Langtry (Sporting Fingal Futsal / UCD)
3. Ian
Byrne (Shamrock Rovers Futsal)
4. Philip
McDonagh (Shamrock Rovers Futsal / Drumcondra FC)
5. Ross
Zambra (Sporting Fingal Futsal / Wayside Celtic)
6. Dane
Massey (Bray Wanderers FC)
7. Lloyd
Massey (Blue Magic Futsal)
8. Alan
McCabe (AUL Futsal / Sherriff CY)
9. Alan
Lynch (Shamrock Rovers Futsal)
10. Jack
Doyle (Shamrock Rovers Futsal)
11. Ian
Carry (Sporting Fingal Futsal)
12. Tony
Kane (AUL Futsal / Sherriff CY)
13. Cian
McDonald (Shamrock Rovers Futsal)
14. Brendan
Dawson (Shamrock Rovers Futsal)
Standby players Joe
Watson (Waterford Bohemians FC)
Darren
Kavanagh (Killester United)
Fixtures:
Thursday, January 20 2011Israel v Norway
Kick-off: 17.30
Republic of Ireland v Andorra
Kick-off: 20.00
Friday, January 21 2011Andorra v Israel
Kick-off: 17.30
Republic of Ireland v Norway
Kick-off: 20.00
Sunday, January 23 2011Norway v Andorra
Kick-off: 17.30
Israel v Republic of Ireland
Kick-off: 20.00
Posted by
Luca Ranocchiari -->
luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com
