Futsal/Indoor Soccer World News
February 20, 2002

News and information on Futsal/Indoor Soccer from around the world


FUTSAL PLANET'S (www.futsalplanet.com) "2001 WORLD PLAYER
OF THE YEAR" RESULTS

MANOEL TOBIAS WINS SECOND FUTSAL PLANET "WORLD PLAYER
OF THE YEAR" AWARD
Brazilian midfielder Manuel Tobias Da Cruz Jr. won his
second consecutive Futsal Planet "World Player of the
Year" on Feb. 15. The website, which is based in Italy,
crowned Manuel Tobias for a second time in as many years
as "World Player of the Year" after receiving 296 points
in the final voting ballots. Spain's forward Javi
Rodriguez with 259 points and midfielder Daniel Ibañes
Caetano with 197 points took the second and third
places, respectively. The 2001 edition of the Futsal
Planet's website accolades featured Futsal experts
(Coaches, Federation Presidents, Journalists, Press
Officers, etc.) from around the world voting to pick
the "Best Player of the World."

SPAIN LEADS EUROPEAN BATCH
Along with the second and third spots, Spain also had
ten more players receiving votes. The 12 total, with
nine in the top 25, are the most by any European team
on the 2001 ballots. With Javi Rodriguez and Daniel
Ibañes Caetano taking numbers two and three, respectively,
forward Javi Sanchez Franco took the eighth spot,
while goalkeeper Luis Amado finished 10th. Here are
the remaining Spanish players with their respective
places: Paulo Roberto #11, Jesus Claveria Dominguez #13,
Joan Linares Rodriguez Tied #14, Kike Boned Guillott T#16,
Julio Mera #19, Javier Orol Sanchez #22, Santi Hereo T#38,
Andre Linares Rodriguez T#45.

Remaining UEFA Players and Final Results (# Place on Ballot):
Bosnia-Herzegovina - Ramiz Ramic T#59
Croatia - Robert Grdovic T#25, Nikola Tomicic T#38, Mico
Martic T#59; Czech Republic - Roman Mares T#14
Finland - Keijo Huusko T#45, Marko Koivuranta T#59
Holland - Edwin Grunholz T#27, Pascal Langenhuijsen T#38,
Marciano Boumann & Glenn Zeelig T#45, Jermaine Vanenburg
T#59; Hungary - Ivan Toth T#32
Italy - Adriano Foglia #12, Darley Fernando Grana T#16,
Daverson Franzoi T#22, Luca Marchetti T#27, Andrea Rubei #44,
Edgar Rocha Bertoni T#59
Poland - Lukasz Jasinski T#45
Portugal - Joao Benedito T#38, Pedro Alexandre Silva Da
Costa T#56
Russia - Oleg Denisov T#27, Alexander Verizhnikov T#32,
Arkadiy Belyi T#59; Ukraine - Serhiy Koridze #7
Yugoslavia - Zoran Dimic T#45.

BRAZIL DOMINATES SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINGENT
Brazil dominated the South American contingent at the
2001 Futsal Planet.com "World Player of the Year" balloting
with 15 total players receiving votes. Argentina was
second with three players, while Bolivia had one.
South American Players Final Results (# Place of Ballot):
Argentina - Carlos Sanchez & Leandro Planas T#32, Juan
Pablo Segura T#59
Brazil - Manuel Tobias Da Cruz Jr. #1, Fininho P.S.
Lira Goes #4, Schumacher F.S. Viana #5, Lenisio
Teizeira Jr. #6, Falcão A. Rosa Vieria #9, Vander
Carioca #18, Índio F. Anibio Silva Costa #20, Anderson
Andrade #32, Andres Santos Siqueira & Tatu Rodrigo
Lima Nicolau T#48, Franklin Roosevelt T#45, Lavoisier
Freire Martin T#56, Rosa Lima Lucio & Choco Carlos
Roberto da Silva & Cupim Cassio Renan da Silva T#59
Bolivia - Carlos Galindo T#45.

EGYPTIAN MIDFIELDER CARRIES BANNER FOR AFRICA
Midfielder Tamer Ismail of Egypt was the sole representative
of Africa at the Futsal Planet.com ballot earning a tie
for the 32nd spot in the ranking. The Egyptian Captain
led the squad to sixth place at the 2000 FIFA Futsal
World Championship in Guatemala.

IRANIAN STRIKERS FINISHES 21ST, 27TH IN VOTING BALLOT
Iran's Futsal National Team forward Vahid Shamsaee
finished 21st in the Futsal Planet ballot. Shamsaee,
who led Iran to their third consecutive Asian Futsal
Championship in 2001, was also joined by teammate
Mohammad Reza Heidaria who was tied at the 27th spot on
the list.

FOUR MORE ASIAN PLAYERS MAKE THE LIST
Four more futsal players from three Asian countries
made the balloting list. Forward Alexander Korolev of
Uzbekistan finished tied at the 27th spot, while
midfielder Anucha Munjareren of Thailand and Naokia
Ichihara of Japan ended tied in the 45th place. Japan's
Sagane Kiyoshi rounded out the Asian invasion tied at
the 59th spot on the list.

SIX NORTH AMERICANS EARN ACCOLADES
Six North American players (Canada-3, USA-3) earned
voting accolades in the Futsal Planet.com "World Player
of Year" ballots. U.S. defender Sean Bowers was the
highest North American on the ballot finishing tied
for 22nd. American goalkeeper Otto Orf followed, as
he was ranked 25th (tied), while forward Kyt Selaidopoulos
of Canada was next in the 45th (tied) spot. Rounding
out the North Americans were U.S. defender/midfielder
Ted Eck, Canadian forwards Gabriel Gervais and Jocelyn
Roy all finishing tied for 59th.

EUROPE

ITALY GOES WINLESS IN TWO-GAME SERIES WITH CZECHS
Italy's Futsal National Team went winless in a two-game
international friendly series against the host Czech
Republic from Feb. 15-16. After playing to a 3-3 draw
the day before (Feb. 15) in Ostrava, defender Roman
Mares scored the game-winner early in the first half
to lead the Czechs to a 2-1 victory over Italy in the
second match on Feb. 16, in Brno.

2002 UEFA FUTSAL CUP KICKS OFF IN PORTUGAL
The 2002 UEFA Futsal Cup will take place in Lisbon,
Portugal from Feb. 25 - Mar. 3. The first-ever eight-team
tournament will feature two groups of four European
clubs. The host Sporting Club de Portugal has the
number one seed in Group A, which includes MNK 1700
Split of Croatia, AS Roma of Italy and MNK Kaskada
Gracanica of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Playas de Castellón
(Spain) has the top seed in Group B, which is composed
of Action 21 Charleroi (Belgium), CSÖ-Montage Budapest
FC (Hungary) and Clearex-Chorzòw (Poland). The top two
of each group will advance to the semifinals on Mar. 2,
with the semifinal survivors meeting in the championship
finale the following day (Mar. 3).

2002 UEFA Futsal Cup - Lisbon, Portugal
Groups & Schedule - Local Time Kick off
Group A
Sporting Club (POR)
MNK 1700 Split (CRO)
AS Roma (ITA)
MNK Kaskada (BIH)

Group B
Playas de Castellón (ESP)
Action 21 Charleroi (BEL)
CSÖ-Montage (HUN)
Clearex-Chorzòw (POL)

Feb. 25
MNK 1700 Split vs. AS Roma 15:00
Sporting Club vs. MNK Kaskada 17:00
Action 21 Charleroi vs. CSÖ Montage 19:00
Clearex-Chorzow vs. Playas de Castellón 21:00

Feb. 26
AS Roma vs. MNK Kaskada 15:00
MNK 1700 Split vs. Sporting Club 17:00
Action 21 Charleroi vs. Clearex-Chorzow 19:00
CSÖ Montage vs. Playas de Castellón 21:00

Feb. 28
MNK Kaskada vs. MNK 1700 Split 15:00
AS Roma vs. Sporting Club 17:00
Playas de Castellón vs. Action 21 Charleroi 19:00
CSÖ Montage vs. Clearex-Chorzow 21:00

Mar. 2
Semifinals
Winner Group A vs. Runners-up Group B 15:00
Winner Group B vs. Runners-up Group A 17:00

Mar. 3
Finals
Semifinal Winners 15:00

GENK CUP TO TAKE PLACE IN BELGIUM
The 2002 Ford Genk Cup will be held in Genk, Belgium
from May 8-11. The annual futsal tournament sanctioned
by FIFA and Belgium's Football Association will feature
24 invited teams from around the world. The invitation
criteria is done by the following process: 1) Top eight
teams from the Belgium Futsal League; 2) Automatic bid
for the host club - Zvk Ford Genk; 3) Top team from each
of the Futsal Leagues in Holland, Italy, Poland, Spain;
4) 11 Wildcards - Futsal Clubs or National Teams. The
first round will feature eight groups of three. Similar
to the 2001 Singapore Tiger 5's International Tournament,
the Genk Cup will have three award winners. The first-place
group winners will advance to the "Cup Quarterfinals,"
while the eight-group runners-up will move onto the
"Plate Quarterfinals." The third-place group finishers
will compete in the "Bowl Quarterfinals." The quarterfinal
winners will face off in each competition's semifinals,
with the surviving teams moving onto their respective "Cup,
Plate or Bowl" Finals.

USA

MISL EAST ALL-STARS TOP WEST IN OVERTIME
Forward Joel Shanker of the Philadelphia Kixx notched
the game-winning goal in the 4:36 mark of the overtime
period as the East All-Stars defeated the West 17-15
at the 2002 Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) All-Star
Game at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on Feb. 17.
The record-crowd of 13,216 spectators saw the East level
the score at 15-15 after a tally by midfielder Denison
Cabral with less then two minutes remaining in the match.
After scoring the game-winner, Shanker earned 2002 MISL
All-Star Game Most Valuable Player honors. For more
information on the 2002 MISL All-Star Game check their
website at www.misl.net.

U.S. COACH SCORES TWICE IN MISL ALL-STAR LEGEND'S GAME
Milwaukee Wave and U.S. Futsal National Team Head Coach
Keith Tozer scored twice for the MISL Legend's squad
in the 3-3 draw against the Cleveland Force Legends on
Feb. 17, at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Tozer,
who has a 10-6-2 overall record at helm with the USA,
opened the scoring in 12:51 mark of the first quarter.
After the game was tied late in the second quarter, the
Force took the lead with 5:40 remaining in the half. A
minute later the MISL Legends leveled the match at 2-2.
The Force took the lead again at the 14:10 mark of the
third quarter, but Tozer leveled it at 3-3 for the MISL
Legends four minutes later.

MEMBERS OF PLAYER POOL IN 2002 MISL ALL-STAR ACTION
Baltimore Blast - Midfielder Denison Cabral (0 caps)
notched two goals, including the tying one just before
the end of regulation, while goalkeeper Scott Hileman
(0 caps) made nine saves to pick up the victory for the
East All-Stars. Kansas City Comets - Forward Wes Wade
(9 goals, 13 caps) had a goal and an assist for the West
All-Stars. St. Louis Steamers - Forward Mark Moser (9 goals,
11 caps) scored for the East squad, while defender Daryl
Doran (2 caps) added a tally for the West Team. Philadelphia
Kixx - Midfielder Gary DePalma (0 caps) notched the first
goal of the 2002 All-Star match for the East. Milwaukee
Wave - Forward Joe Reiniger (0 caps) had two tallies, while
defender Glenn Carbonara (3 goals, 12 caps) assisted on
two goals for the West. Defender Troy Dusosky (0 caps)
added an assist, while goalkeeper Victor Nogueira (16 caps)
made eight saves.



Information was researched and compiled by Steven Torres,
who is currently the Public Relations Coordinator/Futsal
Press Officer at the United States Soccer Federation.

Futsal is a sport that is a derivative of soccer and
played with five-man teams on a basketball style court,
with no walls and a low bouncing ball, unlike the
traditional sport of U.S. indoor soccer played with
six-man squads and walls. Great soccer superstars such
as Pele, Zico, Ronaldo and Diego Maradona grew up playing
the game and credit Futsal with developing their skills.
FUTSAL® is a registered trademark of the United States
Futsal Federation.