Courtesy: UEFA.com


England celebrate first futsal win

Wednesday 19 December 2007

England's 45-game wait for an international futsal victory is over after a thrilling 8-7 defeat of Greece in the first of a two-match friendly series in Birmingham.

Losing run
Formed as a futsal team in June 2003, with a 10-2 losing debut against Uzbekistan, England had previously come closest to victory when drawing 5-5 with Cyprus last year, their only positive result in 44 fixtures until now. But that statistic was improved in their first encounter with Greece as both sides continue preparations for FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers in 2008.

Advantage Greece
With England Under-21 football manager Stuart Pearce among the crowd, the hosts began brightly but fell behind to a Sokratis Mourdoukoutas goal in the third minute. Alex Sykes and Jon Adams then put England in front before Stefanos Soilemes equalised. Sykes and Adams both scored again, only for those strikes to be cancelled out by Spiridon Gritzalis and Ioannis Delaportas, before Ilias Bousmpouras edged Greece into a 5-4 half-time lead.

Narrow margin
Luke Ballinger levelled immediately after the interval, and although Delaportas restored the Greek advantage, Ashley Allanson nullified it; Ballinger converted a double penalty before Richard Follett made it 8-6 two minutes from time. Bousmpouras's late goal was a mere consolation for the visitors.

Drawn game
A day later, the second match was a lower-scoring affair. Sykes, being watched by pupils at Rednock School where he teaches, broke the deadlock, Mourdoukoutas restored parity yet Sam Tucknott made it 2-1 at the break. England then lost goalkeeper Dean Thornton to a rib injury in the second half and Greece secured a 2-2 draw with ten minutes left.

'A while coming'
Reflecting on the results, England manager Graeme Dell told theFA.com: "At last I can look back and know what it feels like to win a game with these lads. Monday's result was a fantastic achievement by them and although the scenes in the arena with players, fans, friends and families had some resemblance to what you might expect at a World Cup final, it has been a while coming." In World Cup qualifying, England are in Group 4 in Hungary, also involving Poland and F.Y.R. Macedonia, while Greece take on Slovenia, Albania and Group 7 hosts Malta.





Courtesy: The FA.com


'This one's for Delly'

By Nicholas Veevers

Tuesday, 18 December 2007

England 8-7 Greece
International Friendly
Monday 17 December 2007
Nechells Community Sports Centre, Birmingham

England Futsal ace Luke Ballinger was quick to dedicate Monday’s historic first victory to Head Coach Graeme Dell, after netting what proved to be two of the crucial goals in the 8-7 win.

The Mangotsfield United player scored just seconds into the second half to level the scores at 6-6, before netting his second to make it 7-6 in the crucial later stages of the game.

And Ballinger was delighted to have played his own part in the performance after being involved in the recent matches against Andorra and Georgia which have seen the Three Lions looking more and more likely to get the maiden win under their belt.

“It was great to get the win, but it was more about the team effort,” said the 20-year-old.

“Everyone played their part in the victory and it’s certainly been coming over the last few matches.

“That was only my eighth game today and in the time since I’ve been with the squad we have improved a great deal.

“I came in for the tournament in Turkey and have then played against Andorra and Georgia and we could have won in some of those games too, but it’s just great to get the win now and we need to build on this, starting against Greece again on Tuesday.”

Ballinger, who has netted seven goals in his last three games, also reserved special praise on behalf of the rest of the squad for Dell.

“Delly has been great,” he admitted.

“He’s taught me a hell of a lot since I’ve been involved and I’m sure the rest of the lads will tell you the same.

“We all know what he expects of us and he’s as desperate for success as we are, so we’re all pleased for him and in many senses, this win is for him and Delly has got to take a lot of praise for it.”

Now that the first win for England has been secured, Ballinger is hoping that the Three Lions can go and build upon their success with further victories.

However, the one frustrating aspect for the players and Dell is that it isn’t always easy to get a consistency throughout the squad given the players’ various work and team commitments.

“All of the lads play football, so that is one thing that doesn’t particularly help, as we have to revert to Futsal when we meet up,” he added.

“Also, the squad is often changing, which is no fault of Delly’s and doesn’t help him, but we played Andorra in October and then went to Georgia in November with an almost entirely different group of players.

“So when you meet up, it’s back to basics again in training to prepare for the games.

“We have a good body of players though and we all work hard and get on with things when we get together and we now have to take the positives from this win into the Kuala Lumpur tournament and the qualifiers in Hungary next year.”

England are in action against Greece again at the Nechells Community Sports Centre on Tuesday night. Kick-off is 7pm.




Courtesy: The FA.com


Dell's delight

By Nicholas Veevers

Monday, 17 December 2007

England 8-7 Greece
International Friendly
Monday 17 December 2007
Nechells Community Sports Centre, Birmingham

England Futsal Head Coach Graeme Dell couldn’t hide his delight on Monday night after seeing his team pick up their first ever international win over Greece.

The Three Lions edged a thrilling match over Greece by 8-7, although the difference could have been more with England missing three penalties in the game.

It didn’t matter in the end though, as a great team performance illustrated the spirit within Dell’s squad which has been building over the last few months as England have shown gradual improvement in nearing their historic victory.

“We showed tremendous spirit to get the win tonight and it definitely gets the monkey off our back,” said Dell, after the game.

“We have been getting closer to the win and we have shown more and more mental strength in the last few games and that will only grow even more with experience.

“There are still one or two things that I wasn’t happy about tonight and some of the goals we conceded were down to a lack of concentration at times.

“It happens in football, but in Futsal you can be punished for the slightest lapse and that’s what happened here.

“We’ll keep working on that though and the aim now is to get a second victory on Tuesday night.

“There were a lot of positives to take from this game though and the belief that the lads will get now that they’ve got their first victory will certainly help us in the future.”

It was also pleasing for Dell, as Greece are a country who have been playing Futsal for numerous years now.

“They are a Futsal nation,” he revealed.

“They have just had a change of coaches, but they have been playing the game a lot longer than we have and we can take a lot of positives out of that.

“We have a great Small Sided Committee in place though and it was good to see so many of them here tonight to see the win and to get the victory in front of a home crowd was just what we wanted.

“There was a good crowd here and I’m sure they will have enjoyed the game and hopefully we can keep spreading the message and improving the game in England.”




Courtesy: The FA.com

England's historic victory

By Nicholas Veevers in Birmingham

Monday, 17 December 2007

England 8-7 Greece
International Friendly
7pm Monday 17 December 2007
Nechells Community Sports Centre, Birmingham.

History was made at the Nechells Community Sports Centre in Birmingham on Monday evening, as the England Futsal team picked up their first ever victory, beating Greece in what was a thrilling match from start to finish.

Graeme Dell’s team have been growing closer and closer to sealing their elusive first win in recent months, but they always looked like securing victory on this occasion, showing desire, character and skill throughout the game.

There were plenty of heroic performances from the Three Lions and the sizeable crowd, including England Under-21 Head Coach Stuart Pearce, certainly appreciated the show and joined in with the celebrations at the final whistle.

England made a bright start to the game and could’ve taken the lead on a number of occasions, before Greece edged ahead against the run of play with Mourdoukoutas Sokratis firing home after England were caught out on the break in the third minute.

Two minutes later and England were back level though, as Alex Sykes turned the ball home from close range after a swift move from the Three Lions.

England built on that advantage and less than a minute later they took the lead when Jon Adams struck a fine shot past Greek keeper Achis Christos, following good work from Darren Budd.

The goal flurry continued, when Soilemes Stefanos drilled a low shot past England goalkeeper Eric Pudaloff to bring it back to 2-2.

They almost took the lead after eight minutes, when a shot was blocked on the line by Budd, allowing England to hit the visitors on the break and that resulted in Sykes netting his second goal of the night to restore the advantage.

It was entertaining stuff, with both teams attacking each other at will, but England will have been disappointed with the way in which they conceded a fourth equaliser as Deloportas Ioannis latched onto a loose ball on the right and fired an angled shot past Pudaloff to make it 4-4 with eight minutes of the first half remaining.

Greece built further on that and went in at the break holding a 5-4 advantage, thanks to Bousbouras Ilias’ powerful left footer.

Whatever was said at half time by Dell and his staff certainly worked though, as England came out for the second half and got themselves on level terms within seconds, when Luke Ballinger capitalised on a short back pass to toe-poke past Christos and into the net.

Unfortunately, England’s defensive woes allowed Greece back into the lead again, as a quickly taken corner caught everyone out and Delaportas Ioannis was gifted a simple second for himself.

The Three Lions bounced back yet again though, when a fine move between Adams and Marc Canham ended with Ashley Allanson heading home to make it 6-6.

With the match on a knife edge, both sides had chances to take control with further goals and England had to be thankful to Pudaloff on a number of occasions as he made a string of fine saves.

The Greeks were also giving away a succession of fouls and with eight minutes remaining, their sixth offence took place, giving England a penalty kick. Ballinger stepped up, but Christos guessed right to make a good save and keep England at bay.

Another Greek foul just a minute later saw another penalty award and Ballinger made no mistake with seven minutes remaining to edge England ahead again. The Greeks were also reduced to ten* men, after Mostrios Ioannis was given a second caution whilst debating the penalty award.

With victory just minutes away, England had to be at their best to keep the visitors at bay and there were one or two nailbiting moments and further heroics from Pudaloff to keep the lead in tact.

Greece were really pushing for a leveller and with keeper Christos supporting his team-mates on the half way line, England moved one step closer to victory when the visitors squandered possession and skipper Richard Follett executed an inch perfect lob from his own half to make it 8-6 with just over two minutes left on the clock.

There was still more to come however, as Greece brought it back to 8-7 through Bousbouras Ilias with only one minute remaining.

England held their nerve though and things got rather heated in the final moments as Adams frustrated Greece by shielding the ball in the corner of the pitch, prompting another foul, another penalty and another red card for Greece, all with just one second left!

Christos managed to save Ballinger’s shot, but it wasn’t to matter as the celebrations were already under way for England’s first ever, and deserved, Futsal victory.

England squad: Dean Thornton, Marc Canham, Matt Townley, Jon Adams, Ashley Allanson, Paul Maddison, Nick Colley, Richard Follett, Steve Harrison, Alex Sykes, Sam Tucknott, Darren Budd, Eric Pudaloff, Luke Ballinger.

Greece squad: Pappas Konstantinos, Bousbouras Ilias, Delaportas Ioannis, Ziakas Anastasios, Mostrios Ioannis, Soilemes Stefanos, Panou Thomas, Stamoulos Marios, Gritzalis Spiridon, Mourdoukoutas Sokratis, Manos Antonis, Troulitakis Marios, Gaifilias Apostolos, Achis Christos.

England take on Greece again in a second game at the Nechells Community Sports Centre on Tuesday evening. Kick-off is at 7pm.

* maybe four?





Before the victory...

Courtesy: The FA.com


Follett's thoughts

By Nicholas Veevers

Sunday, 16 December 2007

England v Greece
International Friendlies
7pm Monday 17 December 2007 & 7pm Tuesday 18 December 2007
Nechells Sports Centre, Birmingham.

England star Richard Follett refuses to believe that it is the team’s technical ability that sees them still searching for their first win at international level.

The vast majority of Graeme Dell’s squad play regular football to a decent standard and find the crossover to Futsal training doesn’t present a problem.

However, it’s the time spent preparing for games against other nations that often holds back the Three Lions, although Follett believes that the influx of young players into the squad is seeing a constant improvement and understanding of the game.

The England squad regularly meet for training sessions at Lilleshall and before matches and it doesn’t take long for the players to get back into the swing of things.

“There are a lot of transferable skills to take from football into Futsal, so technically I believe we are good,” said Follett, who is one of the team’s most experienced members.

“The major difference between the two games to start with is the high intensity of Futsal.

“A lot of the skills can be harnessed though and some of the younger players who have come into the squad seem to have picked up the game and done really well.”

However, some of the teams that England have faced over the last few months are able to supplement the skills with advanced tactics and manoeuvres and more regular training sessions.

“When we play teams like Andorra, they train together regularly and work on certain movements and set plays and that can often be the difference when it comes to a game,” added the Solihull Moors player.

“It’s harder for us with players having separate commitments and when there aren’t any games, we can usually only meet up once a month.

“Training at Lilleshall has been going well and everyone feels we are ready to take it out into games, where we need to make sure that everyone is fully focused and then take what we do on the training field with us.

“The game is still growing though and with the new blood in the team, we’re hopeful that we can get that victory sooner rather than later.”




Courtesy: The FA.com


England's victory chase

By Nicholas Veevers

Friday, 14 December 2007

England v Greece
International Friendlies
7pm Monday 17 December 2007 & 7pm Tuesday 18 December 2007
Nechells Sports Centre, Birmingham.

England return to home turf early next week, as the Futsal squad take on Greece in Birmingham in two international friendly games ahead of two big tournaments in 2008.

With the Kuala Lumpur Fives competition taking place in late January and then being swiftly followed by a trip to Budapest for the World Cup qualifying games with Hungary, Poland and Macedonia in February, Graeme Dell’s side will be hoping these fixtures can give them a confidence boost going into 2008.

The most recent games saw England unfortunate to come away from Georgia on the back of two narrow defeats in Tbilisi and back in October, there was an improvement over the two matches with Andorra in Bath.

With that first win proving elusive so far, hopes are high that there will be an upturn in fortunes in front of a home crowd at the Nechells Sports Centre.

For Birmingham boy Jon Adams, that would be a dream come true and given the recent performances and influx of young players in the squad, he feels things are constantly on the up.

“We are definitely improving all the time, definitely over the last couple of months,” revealed Adams, ahead of the games with Greece.

“The more and more we play and train together, the better we’ll become and we have high hopes that we can get the win sooner rather than later.

“Belief is the key though, we need to believe in ourselves, in each other and in what we’re trying to do.

“There are games in which we have come so close to getting a win and our performances of late have been better so it’s just a matter of playing well and seeing it through.”

The 22-year-old normally plies his trade with AFC Telford United in the Conference North away from Futsal and being based in such close proximity to home, he is hoping to see a sizeable crowd and a few familiar faces inside the arena.

“It’s something that I’ve always dreamed of, playing for England in my hometown and I hope there will be a good crowd here for the games,” added the former Rushden and Diamonds and Chesterfield player.

“I’ll hopefully have plenty of friends and family here too, so they can see what it’s all about as well.

“The crowd was brilliant in Bath last time, so if it can be something similar in Birmingham, that would be great.”




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