Courtesy: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


Tozer leads Pan Am Games squad

THURSDAY, May 31, 2007

By Charles F. Gardner

Milwaukee Wave coach Keith Tozer is piling up the frequent flyer miles this summer.

Earlier this week, he returned from Brazil, where he led the U.S. national futsal team in games against the Brazilian national squad and several club futsal squads.

In less than two weeks, Tozer and his team will travel to Spain to play two matches against the futbol sala team from that country, the reigning World and European champion.

It's all to help the U.S. squad prepare for an appearance in the Pan American Games, scheduled July 13-29 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"Playing the best two teams in the world is great," Tozer said of facing Brazil and Spain. "Really, what's happening is that there's got to be a new generation of futsal players. It took us five or six years to get to where we were."

Now some of the veterans of the last few U.S. teams, including Wave players Greg Howes and Johnny Torres, former Wave defender Pat White and former Baltimore Blast star Sean Bowers, are no longer active in futsal, the five-a-side version of soccer without walls. The U.S. won the 2005 CONCACAF futsal title in Costa Rica and reached the second round of the FIFA Futsal World Championship in Chinese Taipei later that year.

On the recent trip to Brazil, only two players of 16 - Pat Morris and Jamar Beasley - had any extensive futsal experience.

So it was no surprise that the Brazilian team blanked the U.S., 4-0 and 7-0, in a pair of matches. Malwee, one of the top futsal club teams in Brazil, beat the Americans, 6-0, while the U.S. beat Balneario, 4-3, and Bento du Sol, 4-3.

Forward Marcio Leite, one of the top rookies in the Major Indoor Soccer League last season, played for Malwee before coming to the U.S. and joining the Wave.

"We went to Joinville to see Malwee vs. Joinville," Tozer said. "That was the Yankees vs. the Mets. Malwee was down, 4-1, and it finished 4-4. They had police, security, army.

"After the game, some fan jumped the railing and punched (Malwee's) Falcao right in the face. The next thing you know, there's a melee going on. Our team got what it was all about."

Tozer said he will be able to take a few more experienced players on the trip to Spain, which includes games in Lucena on June 13 and Andujar on June 15.

Goalkeeper Brett Phillips of the Wave, forward Lee Tschantret, defender John Ball and midfielder Denison Cabral will be part of the roster for the Spain tour. Cabral, a native of Brazil, recently became a U.S. citizen.

Tozer said Cabral will be eligible to play for the U.S. in the Pan Am Games, and veteran forward Don D'Ambra of the MISL champion Philadelphia Kixx also has committed to play in that competition.

Tozer must name a 12-man roster for the Pan Am Games by June 22. The U.S. will play Argentina on July 23, Ecuador on July 24 and Costa Rica on July 25 in group matches. The semifinals are set for July 27, and the championship match on July 28.

"People don't understand the scope of the Pan Am Games," Tozer said. "We'll have 8,000 athletes in an Olympic village. It will be an unbelievable experience, an unbelievable opportunity to play for your country."

Spain is using the matches against the U.S. as part of its preparation for the 2007 UEFA European Futsal Championship, to be played in Porto, Portugal from Nov. 16-25.



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