Courtesy: UEFA.com

Umit excited by futsal challenge

Thursday, 14 December 2006

by Turker Tozar

from Trabzon

Despite defeat in the first match in their futsal history, Turkey captain Ümit Davala believes his side can make an impact when they enter the UEFA European Futsal Championship preliminary round next month.

Making history
The historic match last night at the National Football Academy in Bucharest saw Turkey go down 7-3 to Romania although the manner of their performance against a more developed futsal nation was encouraging. They quickly found themselves 3-0 down but fought back well, with Murat Düzgün scoring the country's first goal, to give the scoreline an air of respectability. Coincidentally, Romania also provided the opposition when the Turkish football team made their international debut on 26 October 1923. Turkey are preparing for their maiden assault on the UEFA European Futsal Championship and will play in a four-team mini-tournament in Finland between 18-21 January.

Major difference
Turkey will be up against the hosts, Albania and Armenia for a place in February's qualifying round, and another mini-tournament staged by 2003 European champions Italy. The 33-year-old Ümit, whose hugely successful career as a midfielder included spells at Galatasaray SK, AC Milan and Werder Bremen, is confident Turkey can prove themselves in the small-sided game. "Futsal does not have anywhere near the amount of media exposure as football," he said. "But this will be a big event and we are proud to be competing as a new team. We have called up some players who have played futsal at European clubs, in addition to some exciting young talents."

Challenges ahead
Turkey coach Omer Kaner, the former Fenerbahçe SK and Eskiºehirspor striker, is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead. He said: "Futsal is a new form of football in our country, though it is very popular in other European countries. Our opponents in the preliminary round have had futsal leagues going for seven years and so they are obviously more experienced than us. But we will work hard and close the gap. Our first target is to advance into the second phase of qualifiers in Italy, then we aim to get to Portugal for the finals."



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