Irish Under 21 Futsal Squad Announced for Friendlies against Benfica and Sporting Lisbon


Friday, November 16th 2007

FAI National Futsal Coordinator, Derek O’Neill today announced the Under 21 Futsal Development Squad to travel to Lisbon on December 3rd.

The team will play two friendly matches against the U20 Futsal teams of Lisbon giants Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. The FAI Development squad has been formed primarily from players who participated in the successful first ever Under 21 FAI Futsal league earlier this year which was won by Shamrock Rovers.

Shamrock Rovers are represented with four players in the squad while Bohemians are strongly represented with three. There are two current Leinster Senior League players selected, with Bluebell United and Mount Merrion represented also.

Derek O’Neill said “This will be a great opportunity for the players to expand their knowledge and experience of Futsal and will be of great benefit to them and their clubs when they return to play in the eircom Futsal League in February next.”

The squad represents a first step in forming an under 21 National Futsal team to represent Ireland in the newly formed UEFA U21 Futsal Championship which begins next April 2008.

“This is just the beginning of the process of forming our first National Futsal team. It’s a great opportunity for these players to stake a claim for a place. However, there were some difficult decisions to make in leaving out some promising players from this squad. Six players have been placed on a stand by list in case of injuries in the coming weeks. Those players along with those from the new 16 club National Futsal league which begins in February will ensure that competition for places in the squad will be intense in the coming months,” added O’ Neill.

The matches to be played are as follows:

Tuesday 4th December 2007 at 9.30 pm

FAI Futsal U21 Development Squad V Sport Lisboa Benfica Futsal U20s (Benfica Sports centre)

Wednesday 5th December 2007 at 7.30 pm

FAI Futsal U21 Development Squad V Sporting Clube de Portugal Futsal (Hall Paz Amizade-Loures)


FAI Futsal U21 Development Squad

John Perkins (Shamrock Rovers)
Dane Massey (Shamrock Rovers)
Kieran Kilduff (Shamrock Rovers)
Mark Langtry (Shamrock Rovers)
Alan Lynch (Bohemians)
David O'Sullivan (Bray Wanderers)
Ian Byrne (Bohemians)
Gary McCabe (Bray Wanderers)
Keith Gallagher (Bluebell United)
Philip McDonagh (Bohemians)
Gareth Whelan (Drogheda United)
Brendan Dawson (Mount Merrion / YMCA)



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