Courtesy: The FA.com


Unlucky Lions slip to defeat

Saturday, 22 January, 2011

3-1 defeat in Skopje doesn't tell the full story.
Macedonia 3-1 England
UEFA Futsal Euro 2012
Preliminary Qualifying Round
21 January 2011
Skopje, Macedonia

By Simon Walker in Skopje

England’s quest to qualify for the first time in their short Futsal history to the main rounds of the UEFA Futsal Championships were dealt a cruel blow in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. However, the England squad can count themselves unlucky that they didn’t start their European campaign on a more positive note after dominating much of the game and playing some outstanding Futsal.

England had recently visited Skopje to play Macedonia in two friendly internationals in October, where England suffered heavy defeats to their hosts (4-0 and 5-1). Although England could cite mitigating circumstances during these autumn fixtures, with the Macedonian players being in the midst of their domestic season, whilst the English players hadn’t played competitively since July with The FA National Futsal League not kicking-off until November. And this was reinforced by one of the most impressive displays from an English Futsal team.

Pete Sturgess’ men started this match at an electrifying pace, with punchy, precise passing and fluid movement that unsettled the Macedonians. The Macedonian team were in for a rude awakening if following their convincing victories in the autumn they thought that this was going to be a walk in the park. England controlled the tempo and the game for the opening five minutes, with Macedonia camped in their own-half and struggling to get possession. England had good chances to capitalise on this dominance, with clever inter-play particularly between Luke Ballinger, Rob Ursell and Nick Colley, leading to England hitting the post and Todorovski in the Macedonian goal making some important saves.

The Macedonians are a strong side, and as the half rolled on they began to exert more influence over the game and demonstrate why they are ranked over 30 places above England in the FIFA World Rankings. However, James Dalton in the England goal had little concerns up until mid-way through the half when a kick-in near the English goal led to Colley giving away a rather rash free-kick in a dangerous location. England had conceded from a similar position against the Macedonians during the autumn internationals, and so they knew exactly what was coming.

Darko Rangotov, Macedonia’s strong number nine crashed the ball goalwards at some force, and similar to the autumn, the English wall disintegrated weakly allowing the ball to penetrate and leaving Dalton with little chance. The goal went against the run-of-play, and Macedonia capitalised on a somewhat shell-shocked England and began to build momentum, particularly through the excellence of Jovanovski who was at the centre of all their moves. England were under serious pressure and were desperately trying to cling on, Dalton making some good saves and the English defensive unit working effectively with Colley at the fore.

England started the second half positively, trying to force the play and dictate the rhythms of the game. But the Macedonians were strong defensively in shutting down the forward pass to England’s top-man. Thomas Obasi, Ursell and Ballinger all failed in the opening exchanges of the second period to hold the ball effectively in the forward positions, which prevented England from establishing a strong attacking platform and becoming frustrated began to take risks in search of the equaliser. An exciting three man attack from England which resulted in a good shot from Ursell and smart save from Todorovski, left England exposed at the back which the Macedonian goalkeeper exploited with a quick throw that allowed Leveski to head in on Dalton’s goal and punish the English.

The large Macedonian crowd were jubilant; the feeling around Skopje’s old arena was that this goal sealed the game. And it might well have done against previous English teams who would have capitulated at this point. This team however demonstrated immense character to pick themselves up, trust in their abilities and Sturgess’ coaching to begin playing a level of Futsal that has been rarely witnessed by an English squad. The players remained focused and began passing and moving slickly with real purpose. The Macedonian squad simply couldn’t live with the pace, energy and precision of the English. Wave after wave of attack fell on the well organised Macedonian defence. Agon Rexha had a long-range shot saved, Neil Morgan had a close range opportunity, Obasi, Jason Kilbride and Ursell all having half-chances.

Finally mid-way through the second half, following intricate work between Ursell and Morgan, Morgan finished off an excellent move with an overhead volley to give England real impetus. It was 2-1 and England were in the ascendency. Tension seeped into the stadium and through the Macedonian squad. The fans could see that the home team were tiring and beginning to wilt under the pressure from the English and tried their best to support their country by booing England and creating a hostile atmosphere. The English players rose above this and continued pressing and probing, with Morgan forcing the keeper to push on to the post, followed by Ballinger narrowly missing from a tight angle, and some clever work from Obasi so nearly flicking it past Todorovski.

But the clock was running down, and it was the unfortunate Obasi that finally sealed England’s fate. Already on a yellow card, Obasi had no choice but to stretch to try and prevent Naskovski heading directly in on goal after Ursell got caught in possession. Obasi caught the player and the referees had no choice but to give him a second yellow card and send him off. With England missing a player, yet still chasing the game with less than two minutes remaining it really proved to be mission impossible. Macedonia passed the ball around the England players who continued to chase wildly to regain possession. With three seconds remaining Rangotov again smashed the ball in to the top corner to finish the game for a relieved Macedonia.

The England team played with heart and pride, but also with real ability. The team deserved a draw from this game at the least, but international Futsal is not always so kind. This leaves an uphill struggle for the English team to qualify to the next stages, with only one team qualifying from a group of four. But Georgia beat Estonia 8-0 in the other match, suggesting that Macedonia might not necessarily have the group sealed just yet. But only a win will do now for England in their next match against Georgia and they require a slip-up by the Macedonians.



Courtesy: The FA.com


Winning end against Estonia

Tuesday, 25 January, 2011

Pete Sturgess' men miss qualification, but celebrate 3-2 victory.
England 0-4 Georgia & Estonia 2-3 England
UEFA Futsal Euro 2012
Preliminary Qualifying Round
22 & 24 January 2011
Skopje, Macedonia

By Simon Walker in Skopje

England concluded their European Futsal Championship qualifying quest with a morale raising victory against a spirited Estonia side. Although any victory at this level is satisfying for this developing England team, unfortunately in the context of qualification it had no bearing on England’s chances of qualifying: with the team already being knocked out of the competition.

After a promising performance against Macedonia in the first game, where the English players were extremely unlucky not to get a positive result, eventually succumbing to a 3-1 defeat; this was followed by a more disappointing performance in the second game against a strong Georgian team who demonstrated the ruthlessness in front of goal that England need to acquire before they can compete and win at the next tier of international Futsal. A 4-0 defeat by Georgia shattered English dreams of qualifying to the main round of the European Championships, leaving England to contest for the ‘wooden spoon’ with Estonia in the final game of the tournament.

Georgia are a well-organised, technical team with some classy players, and the squad rightly sit significantly higher in the FIFA World Rankings than England (35 places higher). However, the Georgians recognised the English threat following the strong performance against Macedonia in the first game, and subsequently adopted a cautious, tactical approach to nullify England’s game plan.

However, England dominated the early exchanges wasting some important chances, and it was from one of these chances that Georgia sprung a lightning counter attack to seize the lead. However, England remained in the game at 1-0 until half-way through the second period, and had a number of chances to get back into the match. Unfortunately, the England players became frustrated and impatient, and the last quarter of the game was characterised by frenzied English passion to force the game and snatch a goal to get back into the match. This played into Georgia’s hands.

Following wave after wave of English attacks, Georgia sprang more effective, penetrative and destructive counter-attacks that tore England apart, capitalising on the numbers of players England committed to going forward. Georgia demonstrated the power of clinical finishing; with three late goals laying to waste England’s ambition’s of qualification and demonstrating the next level of development that the English players need to aspire too.

Pete Sturgess’ men were understandably rather flat for the third and final game against Estonia, but there was an underlying confidence in the squad that they could end the tournament on a positive note with a convincing win against the Estonians. England started positively, although not playing as slickly as they can, they still bossed the first half with Estonia placed under constant pressure and camped in their own half. Rob Ursell, Thomas Obasi, Luke Ballinger, Nick Colley and ??? Morgan all had decent chances to break the deadlock and give England the lead; indeed England should have had the game wrapped up within the first five minutes considering the golden chances that the team missed.

Alas, England were to rue their profligacy in front of goal with Estonia scoring twice before half-time to give them a 2-0 lead completely against the run of play. Estonia had obviously taken a leaf out of Georgia’s book, noting that quick counter-attacks from the breakdown of the lusty English attacks could unsettle the England team. Both Estonia’s goals came from sharp counter-attacking play with England slow to track back and scramble a solid defensive unit.

It looked like England were dead-and-buried, on the verge of another defeat, but the English players returned for the second half keen to restore some pride and show their character. But the early exchanges of the second half followed a similar pattern to the first period: England dominating the game, but being thwarted by excellent defending and some strong goalkeeping. England looked demoralised and were running out of time, until Ursell managed to bundle the ball into the back of the net after 31 minutes. The spectators could visibly see the belief surging back into the England squad as they sought the equaliser.

In an attempt to thwart England’s attacks, Estonia had racked up five accumulated team fouls meaning any fouls they committed in the final ten minutes would result in a long penalty for England. And almost immediately after Ursell’s goal, England earned such an opportunity. Captain Ballinger stepped up only to see the goalkeeper save. But moments later, Ballinger put his disappointment behind him and proved why he has scored more international goals for England than any other Futsal player. A training ground move saw Ursell float a corner to the edge of the area, where some clever movement from Ballinger had created some space to take the ball down on his chest and rifle a ferocious volley into the top corner to draw England level.

Estonia were in disarray and continued to lunge dangerously into tackles; the fast feet and skills of Obasi and Ursell tormented the Estonians. And yet another foul on Ursell resulted in Ballinger getting another opportunity to rectify his earlier miss from the spot. This time he made no mistake and slotted the ball into the top corner to leave the goalkeeper with no chance. In the space of three captivating minutes, England had scored three times to turn the game around and take the lead.

The last seven minutes of the game saw England become tense and nervous, with Estonia pressing and pushing for a late goal. This sense of pressure that enveloped England in these last minutes was not helped by Ballinger missing two further long penalties that would have sealed the game and given the scoreline a truer reflection of the English dominance. England eventually held on to win the game 3-2.

This was an important win to give the England squad further confidence and to confirm the advancements England have made in recent years on the international scene, and was the minimum that England had hoped for from this qualifying competition. It is worth remembering that this is only England’s second ever win in an official international Futsal competition. Although disappointed not to qualify from one of the tougher qualifying groups, the level of performance against the Macedonians bodes well for further improvements from this squad of young players.


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