Courtesy: Fai Futsal Portal


Impressive Ireland make Futsal Senior Debut

Wednesday, 03 December 2008

(Hungary 4 Republic of Ireland 1)

The Republic of Ireland senior Futsal team made its debut on the International scene last week with two matches against a formidable Hungarian outfit.

Hungary who hosts the UEFA European Futsal Championship in 14 months time is currently ranked seventh in Europe and provided a stiff test for the Irish youngsters.

It was always going to be a considerable task for the Irish team with an average age of twenty years against the senior professional players of Hungary.

However, the Irish youngsters rose to the task to match the Hungarians who have themselves already played and matched some of the best teams in the world including World Champions, Brazil this time last year.

The match was screened live on Hungarian television and played in front of a capacity 1500 spectators in the impressive Miskolc Varosi Sportusarnok Arena. The Irish were undaunted by the exciting atmosphere and went on to produce a performance which will be very encouraging for the future development of the team.

The match opened tentatively with the slick Hungarian team stringing passes together in an effort to open up the relatively inexperienced Irish defence. However, the youngsters showed admirable concentration to repel a series of attacks and began to settle into their own rhythm. Dane Massey and Alan Lynch began to show the Futsal technique for which they are known while 18 year old Ian Byrne showed composure beyond his years.

Goalkeeper Keith Gallagher was tested on a number of occasions and proved an impressive last line of defence for an Irish team who were now beginning to carve out chances for themselves. Philip McDonagh found himself through on the Hungarian keeper only for his lobbed shot to narrowly fall on the wrong side of the upright.

Subsequent chances fell to Shelbourne’s Gary McCabe and Ian Byrne who were both unlucky not to give Ireland the lead. However, six minutes of madness resulted in the Irish conceding four goals from Lodi (2), Gyurcsanyi and Berkes and they were left shell shocked by the sheer speed and force of the Hungarian attacks. They finally regained composure and were unlucky not to reduce the arrears when an alert Keith Gallagher spotted the Hungarian keeper Toth off his line and forced a last gasp save from a lobbed shot.

If ever a side needed to show character it was now and the Irish side regrouped and began to play with a composure and assurance which matched that of their Hungarian counterparts. Yet again the Irish youngsters carved out a number of chances with McDonagh again and Dane Massey in particular unfortunate not to finish when put through one on one with Hungary’s goalkeeper, Toth.

Midway through the second half, the Irish pressure reaped rewards when Longford’s Alan Lynch entered the record books by eluding a Hungarian defender and finishing from close range to record Ireland’s first ever senior international Futsal goal. Buoyed by this success, the Irish continued to probe the Hungarian defence and were by now beginning to look like an accomplished Futsal team.

By the time the game reached its conclusion, the Republic of Ireland team had grown in confidence and stature and regained pride with a sound second half performance.
Next up for the Irish youngsters is an invitational four team tournament in Loughborough in December where England, Libya and Lithuania will provide the next test for the evolving Irish team.

Manager Derek O’Neill said: “We are purposely implementing a strategy of using mainly young players in the team and are overseeing their evolution from U21 internationals to senior Futsal internationals. We realise that there will be serious tests ahead of us but I believe in the long run that this strategy will serve to make the team more experienced and competitive in the years ahead when the players will still only be at a relatively young age. I was very happy with the performances in Hungary and if we can keep the core of this group of players and add in a number of others along the way, I’m sure we’ll reach our objective of being competitive in a relatively short period of time.”







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