Courtesy: Salisbury Journal

Haddow's England call up

SALISBURY City's Alex Haddow has been named in the England Futsal squad for next month's international double-header in Poland.

Haddow, who has already made a number of appearances for his country, will join up with the squad on Saturday, October 21.

City boss Nick Holmes says he congratulates the player on his call-up and wished him and his England team mates every success in their bid to steer the country up the international Futsal rankings.

England, along with Germany, are the only two major countries not to have a national Futsal League, and are having to play catch up on the world stage, hence their relatively low rankings.

Haddow will be part of the squad that plays two games in October against Poland, after which a squad will be chosen for their vital 2007 European Championship qualifying tournament, which takes place in Belgium from November 12-17.

The 24-year-old made his England debut in November 2005 in Lithuania, scoring in one of the two games played against the hosts.

He has now scored four times for his country, including two against Finland.

Haddow told the club's website: "Obviously it's an honour to play for your country at any level, so I'm happy to be selected again for the squad.

"We've had a few get togethers and a couple of workshops since the four-team tournament (against Belgium, Belarus and Cyprus) in the summer."

Futsal is a fast-moving game, which places considerable demand on technique, movement, tactical awareness and fitness.

The format of small-sided football is recognised by FIFA and UEFA with World and European championships for club and national teams.



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