Courtesy: The FA.com

Follett takes captain's role

By Jamie Bradbury

Wednesday, 17 January 2007

England v Bulgaria, Romania and Latvia
UEFA Futsal Championship Preliminary Round, Group B
Thursday 18 - Sunday 21 January 2007
Deva, Romania

Richard Follett has been handed the England captaincy ahead of the UEFA Futsal Championship Preliminary Round games in Romania this week.

The Moor Green full-back wore the armband for the last two matches against France just before Christmas in the absence of previous captain Alex Sykes.

However, despite Sykes being recalled to the squad for the trio of games against Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria, Head Coach Graeme Dell has decided to install Follett, who spent a year out of action after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in August 2005, as the new skipper on an on-going basis.

Dell said: "I was looking to freshen up the captaincy and it seemed the obvious choice to pick Richard as the man to lead the team forward.

"It says a lot about his character, to come back from a bad injury and ACL re-construction in the way he has speaks volumes. He's been such a reliable performer for us anyway and he is so committed to the team, he deserves the armband and it's a fitting tribute to him."

He added: "Richard sets a fine example to the team, he's a solid player and very reliable - he was the natural choice."

Follett was understandably delighted to be leading his country out again: "It's great to captain England. It was such an honour to do it last time against France, it was a fantastic experience.

"Alex Sykes wasn't in the squad in December, so I wasn't sure what Delly would do for this trip, but when he asked me to be captain again I was really pleased as these are now important competitive fixtures."

After arriving in Romania on Wednesday morning, the team took a two hour coach journey from Timisoura, in the west of the country, to Deva, venue for the Group B encounters.

Dell was optimistic that the progress his team has made of late can be transferred into results during this mini-tournament, but he was realistic that, with the hosts the obvious favourites, it will be extremely tough to qualify.

"Romania have to be the favourites to go through, they are one of the strongest teams in Europe and is made up of professional players," he said.

"But with two best runners up going through also, that has to be our overall aim. We finished bottom of the group last year, so our main challenge is to go at least one better."

Skipper Follett added: "It would be nice to lead the lads to their first victory; it's been a long time coming. A lot of work has gone into the team, both on and off the pitch from the lads and the staff, so to get our first win would be amazing.

"I think we’ve got the hardest group with Romania in with us, but the other two, Latvia and Bulgaria, are potentially winnable games. It will be good to go up against teams who are ranked around us and on a similar level as us."




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