English National Futsal Team back home form Kuala Lumpur

The team arrived back at London Heathrow Airport yesterday morning after experiencing playing Futsal in one of the worlds top Futsal Tournaments against the worlds best players. Although the team endured 3 defeats the mood of the team was extremely upbeat, we always knew the event would be a learning curve and the very start of England's path towards becoming a force amongst the Futsal nations.

Everyone linked to Futsal in England and to the squad appreciates that it will take time before England can actually compete with the likes of Brazil and Iran but with the structure starting to take place, it is believed this will be sooner rather than later. The players themselves came back satisfied with theirs performances but disappointed after losing with just 4 seconds remaining, to Indonesia in a game that we really should have won. A series of missed chances were to prove costly and meant a dream tie against the hosts, Malaysia in the final of the Bowl, would slip away.

Reaction from the Press and other relevant parties at the KL World 5's was extremely positive towards the newly formed England team. With the limited time the squad had had to prepare, the team was praised for its resolute defending and determination. One player stood out more than anyone else and was subject to ample amounts of praise from all the top coaches, Tranmere Victoria's very own Goalkeeper Graham Smith, he was outstanding all the way through the competition, (a lot of peoples 'player of the tournament'). Grahams potential as a Futsal Goalkeeper was only spotted in February when we signed him from an 11 a side Football Club. His rise to the top has therefore been incredible and he is now surely one of the most sought after keepers in the Futsal world. Unfortunately with Futsal still in its infancy in England, it looks like Graham Smith may look towards professional clubs in Spain or Italy over the coming weeks.

The 6 Regional Futsal Leagues are now taking place across England, the winners of which will move forward the Finals to be played on 6th July, the winners of this will then take their place in the 2004/2005 Futsal Cup, by which time Futsal in England should be much further on and have gained much media exposure along the way. The spread of the game will hopefully attract more of the high quality players from the 11 a side football into a career in futsal, producing a much stronger England team in the next few years.

Tranmere Victoria are now looking to gain as much knowledge as they can from the teams new International players in preparation for the teams play off against the Romanian Champions, in the 2003/4 Futsal Cup. The games are not far away and we know we will have to be at our best in order to gain entry into the first stages of the competition.

Jay Corran
Manager
Tranmere Victoria Futsal Club