Courtesy: The Malay Mail


Futsal: National squad book AFC ticket

By GHAZ RAMLI

April 25

THE national futsal squad have qualified for the Asian Futsal Confederation (AFC) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from May 21-28 but the the real work has only just begun.

The qualifiers were held at the Sukpa Futsal Court in Kuantan last week.
Besides playing with a home advantage, the Malaysian team were also helped by the psychological effect of being the highest ranked team (No 14) in the competition.
The second highest ranked team in the nine- team event were Turkmenistan, who were two places behind Malaysia.

Turkmenistan also qualified for Tashkent, after finishing second in Group A behind Malaysia.
The other two teams who booked their ticket to Uzbekistan were Group B champions Australia and Hong Kong.

Team manager Hamidin Mohd Amin also praised the Malaysian side who fought a tough battle to book the spot.
“It was no doubt the players worked hard but the tough time has yet to come as every team in Uzbekistan will be faster and bigger in terms of size besides being experienced,” said Hami- din.

In preparation for the finals, the Malaysian team lead by Mohd Saiful Mohd Nor, will be competing in the Asian Football Federation (AFF) finals in Bangkok from May 2-7.

“They received valuable experience in Kuantan but for some players who played their first international tournament, they will need all the exposure they can get before competing in Tashkent,” added Hamidin.

“We have to prove that our outing in Kuantan was not solely based on the home advantage but our own capability,” he added.



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