Courtesy: UEFA.com

Futsal masters learn U21 destiny

Thursday 13 December 2007

European futsal champions Spain will begin their bid to claim the inaugural UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament title against Slovakia, Greece and futsal debutants Switzerland after the qualifying draw was made in Nyon.

'A great honour'
Switzerland are one of two nations, along with the Republic of Ireland, to be entering an international futsal competition for the first time, and Luca Balduzzi, head of grassroots football at the Swiss Football Association, said: "For us, it is a great honour to be drawn in the same group as the current futsal world champions. We will try to learn as much as we can from this experience, and we will try to give them as much of a game as we can."

Finals tournament
Russia will stage the first U21 finals in St Petersburg, provisionally from 6 to 14 December 2008, with 28 teams hoping to take one of the seven places alongside the hosts. Spain will be at home in Group 3 in qualifying, while another former continental champion at senior level, Italy, welcome Moldova, France and Turkey in Group 6. Qualification matches will be played between 7 and 13 April next year.

Championship ethos
UEFA's futsal product manager, Laurent Morel, explained the ethos of the new tournament, saying: "The futsal committee has been pushing many years to introduce a youth competition. Futsal has had a top-down development in the past, and there was a need to create a competition allowing this discipline to develop at youth level to secure the future of the sport. With the introduction of this new competition, the national associations will now be inspired to work also at youth level."

Grassroots dynamic
Balduzzi says the Swiss are entering the tournament in that spirit. "For our association, it was important to start at youth level and build up a generation of futsal players rather than put together a senior team with some old players who would not guarantee us sufficient continuity," he said. "We see futsal as an ideal way to cover the winter period when outdoor football rests, and it helps to develop technique and tactics, which can pay off also for outdoor football. In addition, futsal is also attractive for schools and we will try co-operate with them."







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