Courtesy: UEFA.com

Experience is Roubaix's reward

Friday, 23 September 2005

by Paul Saffer

from London

Roubaix Futsal may have lost their three matches in the UEFA Futsal Cup preliminary round, but as the first French team to play in the competition they have been real trailblazers.

Shock goal
Only formed in 2002, they were regional champions of the north within two years and then went on to take the French Futsal Cup to earn their place in Europe. They were always rated as outsiders in the London mini-tournament, but on their debut hinted at a major shock when David Vieira gave them a seventh-minute lead against favourites Tal Grig Yerevan.

Impressive performers
The Armenian champions eventually won 7-2, and London White Bear FC defeated Roubaix 6-0. All but out, Roubaix then faced Dinamo Tirana and went 5-0 down before Vieira claimed his third goal of the tournament, in a match where the result did not reflect the extent to which the debutants worried their more experienced opposition. Vieira was certainly an impressive performer, as was the lively Joao Martins and goalkeeper Amar Benamrouche.

'New experience'
Reflecting on his team's performance, Roubaix president Messaoud Ferkioui told uefa.com: "This is the first time we have played abroad, so it was a completely new experience. We really like London, but at the same time we were here first and foremost to play in this competition."

Learning curve
Ferkioui admitted that his players had found life tough in the group. "I am surprised by the physical nature of the game - it is not like this in French Futsal," he said. "We are here to learn a lot and gain experience, but right now we are stressed and tense, it has all been new. We haven't developed our game yet to be aggressive enough for this level."

Best wishes
As for Roubaix's opponents, he added: "The Futsal [standard] from all the three countries is similar, but Yerevan were probably the best. Tirana just kept coming at us all the time. We have learnt so much. We would like to come back and learn more, we hope we will return and will have with a whole new approach. All the best to the other teams, we hope Tirana and Yerevan go far. But we wish it could have been us!"

'Great city'
However, they have enjoyed being in London. "It's a great city," Ferkioui said. "There are so many people, it's so cosmopolitan, multi-cultural, so much freedom of expression - we have learned so much just being in London, it has confounded our expectations. It is as beautiful as Paris!"

No pushovers
Roubaix's results may not have been what they wanted, but Yerevan, London and Tirana will agree that they were no pushovers, and if they return next year could well gain the greater success their potential hints at.



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