Courtesy: All Africa


Futsal National Team Faces Zimbabwe in a World Cup Qualifier

The South African Futsal National Team is in camp ahead of the first leg of the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifier against neighbours Zimbabwe that will be played on Saturday, 5 May 2012 at the Wembley Stadium in Turffontein, south of Johannesburg.

Kick-off is at 18h00.

The South Africans started their preparations with the national squad selection trials held at the Wembley Stadium over the past weekend (28-29 April 2012).

The selection camp consisted of a series of mini play-offs between five Futsal provincial teams as well as the South Africa Futsal National team that took on Mozambique in March earlier this year.

The trials allowed the Futsal technical team to have a good look at new players that could be included into the squad ahead of the qualifiers.

Head coach Quinton Allies says he's impressed with the selection made.

"Preparations for the qualifiers have been going extremely well and the players are looking very sharp. The selection trials gave us a chance to have a closer look at other players and we now have a good mix of experienced and new players which is very exciting as we look to make sure we have a strong squad for the qualifiers," said Allies.

"We have 19 players currently in camp and we need only 15 to face Zimbabwe, so everyone is doing their best to be in the final squad for the qualifiers. Those that don't make will still be in the system as we will always need additional players in future," added Allies.

The head coach said it was disappointing that the Egyptians did not arrive for the two proposed friendly matches that would have been used as practice matches before the clash against Zimbabwe.

The encounters with the North Africans were scheduled for the 30th of April and the 2nd of May at the Wembley Stadium.

The return leg against Zimbabwe will be played in Zimbabwe on Friday, 18 May 2012.

The FIFA Futsal World Cup is set to take place in Thailand from 1 - 18 November 2012.




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