DFB Futsal Activity: 1st ever FIFA Futsal Course

by Janez Janzekovic, Franz Janzekovic and Samir Hasani

The DFB has announced its first FIFA Futsal Course from 29.05 -. 02.06.12 in Barsinghausen (near Hannover). The course-will be held in cooperation with FIFA Futsal instructor Benny Meurs (Belgium / German Speaking) The number of participants is 30 people. More courses follow in the running this year, and next year to different locations. Remarkably, the cost for the course and sports equipment are Adapted from the DFB and FIFA .


Hamburg Panthers winner of the DFB Futsal-Cup

This year annual German Futsal championships (DFB Futsal-Cup) were played on 21st and 22nd April 2012 at the Hansehalle in Lübeck. The German champion will be determined in a Final-Four playoff tournament, where all competitors have been qualified before through regional playoff stages.
The starting field presented strong teams including two former German champions, UFC Munster and the Futsal Panthers Cologne, while both other teams of Team Yasar Hamburg and Panthers Hamburg delivered impressive results during the regional playoffs. This promised to be a tight tournament.

On the first matchday in both semi-finals the Futsal teams with both experienced and well balanced squads succeeded over their foes (bold letters for the finalists):

UFC Münster vs Hamburg Panthers (final score 2:7)
Team Yasar Hamburg vs Futsal Panthers Köln (final score 2:7)

On the second and final matchday the game for third place ends up with a narrow 5:4 penalty shoot-out win for UFC Münster against Team Yasar Hamburg. The audience followed a varied and entertaining game ended with a 6:6 draw after regular time.

Following that game a friendly match between a German Futsal all-star selection and the Futsal national team of Denmark ended with a 4:4 draw. It was obviously a progress in the overall game of the German Futsal all-star selection, compared to the desperate 1:11 loss one year ago against this year host of the European Futsal Championships, the national team of Croatia. It would be worthwhile for the German Football Association (DFB) to continue this path with the inauguration of an official national Futsal team.

In the championship final between Hamburg Panthers and the Futsal Panthers Cologne over 500 spectators could then witness what Futsal is really all about. Futsal Panthers Cologne with the better start took early control of the game during the first half with effective offensive ball circulations and good defense effort. With two goals in short time (14.min by Andreas Beck and 16. min by Matthias Giedecke) they had a 2:0 lead. From that goal on, the struggling Hamburg Panthers started to fight back into the game, putting increasingly pressure on the Cologne defense. In the 19.min a forced turnover in the Cologne defense allows Steven Lindner to cut down the lead to 2:1.
Right with the start of the second half, Hamburg stayed in possession and pressured for the equalizer, which came in the 22.min with a fine shot by Burak Özbek. This gives now Cologne the call to counter-attack the now offensive opponents more often, leading to several spectacular situations in the penalty spot which survived Hamburg thanks to great defensive effort and goalkeeping. The game continued tight with chances at both ends and an extra time lurking at the horizon. Finally a free-kick in the 37.min brought the decision for Hamburg, where Burak Özbek finished a quick execution to a 2:3 lead. Cologne desperately seeking the equalizer by setting up a powerplay with a fifth player on the court, but after an interception in the 39.min Kazim Ulusoy finished the game with the 4:2 for Hamburg into the now empty goal of Cologne. With the final whistle the big celebration of Hamburg Panthers as the German Futsal champions were just about to start.

The audience of this year German Futsal championships (DFB Futsal-Cup) were able to enjoy great and attractive while exciting Futsal games. The overall tendency shows principally into the right direction, and it now depends on the clubs and the officials to promote this (amongst the football player very popular) game to a bigger audience in an enduring way and effort. The potential is obviously there in Germany.











Posted by Mico Martic --> mico.martic@futsalplanet.com