Courtesy: New Straits Times


Target is to identify new players

NATIONAL futsal coach P. Balakrishnan hopes the inaugural National Futsal League that kicks off next month will be a platform to identify new players.

Balakrishnan, who does not have the luxury of a big pool of young players since his appointment as national coach last year, has had to depend on the senior players to shoulder the country's hopes.

"Apart from skill, tactics and technique, futsal players need speed and fitness. As such we need to identify new players with speed and talent. The league will also provide a more competitive avenue for the current national players," he said yesterday.

He added that the league, which is expected to go on for about six months, will be able to unearth a big pool of players who can match the current national players, if not perform better than them.

"Players identified during the league will be drafted into the Under-17, Under-21 and Under-23 age groups," he said.

Balakrishnan said Thailand, who have won the Asean Futsal Federation (AFF) competition for six consecutive years, even have professional futsal players in their Under-21 squad because they (Thailand) have had a futsal league since 2001.

In the AFF competition which ended in Bangkok on Sunday, Malaysia finished fourth for the second consecutive time. -- Bernama





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