KUALA LUMPUR: The draw for the inaugural edition of the AFC Futsal Club Championship will be held in Isfahan on April 30.

Representative teams from hosts and Asian futsal champions Iran and runners-up Thailand have been given the top billing for the 10-team event, which will be held in Isfahan from July 4 to 12.

With AFC Futsal Player of the Year Vahid Shamsaee in their ranks, Sepahan-based Foolad Mahan club will aim to stamp their authority in the continent while Thailand will be represented by Port Authority.

The teams will be divided into two groups of five and will play each other in round robin format with top two teams from each group qualifying for the semi-finals.

Apart from Iran and Thailand, teams from Australia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Qatar, Lebanon and Iraq will vie for the top honours in the competition.

LIST OF TEAMS

Iran – Foolad Mahan
Australia – New South Wales Thunder
Japan – Nagoya Oceans
Kyrgyzstan – AUB Altyn-Tash Bishkek
Uzbekistan – Stroitel-Zarafshan
China – Wuhan Dilong
Thailand – Port Authority
Qatar – Al Sadd
Lebanon – TBA
Iraq – Nawrouz

Source : the-AFC.com
Published : 16/4/2009

Former A-League player Naoki Imaya – now based in Tokyo – is hoping to bridge the gap between Australian and Japanese football, as he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“I went to Sydney at the age of 10 with my family, and was put into a local school without being able to speak a word of English.

“But I picked it up through playing various sport activity. The same concept is applied to my school where I teach football in English.”

Imaya, as some in Australasia may remember, had an injury-plagued spell at New Zealand Knights in 2005/6. He’d also been on the books of Canberra Cosmos, Blacktown, Marconi and Adelaide Galaxy over the last nine years in a solid professional career.

During this period the attacking midfielder also had stints in Switzerland with La-Chaux-de-Fonds and Neuchatel Xamax as well as Germany’s third-tier side VFB Lubeck last year.

But since quitting football, the now 28-year-old has set up a school in Tokyo where he teaches football in the English language to Japanese youngsters and adults.

“I was able to learn a lot from playing football in four different countries,” he says.

“Difference in culture, background, colour, whatever it may be, but I know for sure that football can put us all together.

“Aiming to be a world class player would be on anybodys mind who have tried to pursue a career in this beautiful game, but I think it is more important to aim to be a first class human being.

“I believe I have some things I can pass onto some of the kids in Japan and I thought opening this kind of a school was the perfect way for me to get the message across to them.”

Imaya is also bringing foreign people in Japan into his school to help them mix with the Japanese using football as the common denominator.

Imaya runs many of his classes at Futsal centres around Tokyo such as the Adidas Futsal Park in Shibuya. Futsal has been an important part of Japanese football development, that fact emphasised by Kawasaki Frontale’s recent drubbing of the Central Coast in the Asian Champions League.

However, Imaya says Japan’s technical approach should not be over-emphasised.

“The Japanese youth definitely focus very heavily on technical aspects of the game, and perhaps they have to realise it is only one aspect of the game,” he says.

“I think we can learn from each other as the Australian players are more athletic than the Japanese, but lack in technical abilities. They are both very important aspects of the game, being athletic and having technical abilities.”

Eagle-eyed observers would’ve also noticed Imaya was the translator for Pim Verbeek during the Socceroos’ recent World Cup trip to the Japanese capital.

Imaya was a spectator at the 0-0 draw in Yokohama and when asked, Imaya gives a frank assessment of the Japanese national team.

“The current Japanese side is not really playing an exciting football or a football that will intimidate the opponents.

“The Japanese players are good at short passes and moving around to confuse the opponents because of the players being so agile, but I have not seen enough of the Japanese style of football in the recent games.”

That said, Imaya is ideally placed to provide a bridge between our two footballing cultures and it’s something he hopes he can do with his new football school venture.

“I hope in the future I can help the youth from Australia and Japan in some kind of an exchange program where they could learn each others’ football style and build a better relationship between the countries as well.”

Imaya’s blog is at http://www.naocastle.com/blog with information on his school Touch of Class English And Football School.

Source : Four Four Two
By : Aidan Ormond
Published : 15/4/2009

Micheal Sannum of Dunedin and Josh Cremen of Christchurch left today (15/04/09) to link up with Brazilian Serie A Futsal Club Minas.

This will be the first time that any New Zealander has been linked with a Professional Futsal Club and could very well pave the way for more players in the future.

Both Michael and Josh were identified as players with outstanding ability last year and an approach was made for them to link with the Club in Brazil. Former Brazilian Youth team coach and EBF director Mauricio Marques aided in setting up the oportunity and feels that they will benefit hugely from the expereince.

At just 19 years of age both have the Futsal world at their feet and will look to build upon the oportunity and distinguish themselves as 2 of the best Futsal talents in New Zealand today.

Both players have come through the Vikings Futsal NZ set up and have been playing for 4-5 years. CEO, Paul Wadsworth believes that this could be the tip of the iceberg for talent within the Vikings set up. “After watching our junior teams perform at the recent Vikings Titles in Sydney I would expect to see a steady procession of players being invited to Brazilian clubs”. “There is a lot of talent within the Vikings system and they are now getting the opportunity to display it on the world stage”, Wadsworth comments.

In the next 12 months Vikings NZ will send teams of all ages to tournaments around the world including Australia, China, Philippines and Europe. The experience gained by those players will go a long way to more being invited to train and play in Brazil.

For now, Josh and Mike will lead the way for Futsal in NZ as they learn to be part of a fully professional Futsal Club with trainings twice a day and regular fixtures and tournaments. You can check out where they will be based HERE

Vikings Futsal NZ would like to wish them all the best and we all look foward to regular updates as to how they are going

Source : Vikings NZ
Published : 15/4/2009

UEFA European Futsal Championship hosts Hungary continued their build-up to January’s finals by finishing third in a four-team tournament involving Brazil, Slovakia and Croatia.

World champions triumph

Brazil, who regained the FIFA Futsal World Cup from Spain in Rio de Janeiro last year, clinched first place in Budapest with an 8-1 defeat of Hungary, who had earlier won 5-3 against Croatia and lost 4-1 to Slovakia, two teams who missed out on qualifying for the EURO finals as best runners-up by a single goal behind Serbia. Although the hosts’ experimental lineups experienced mixed results, the enthusiastic capacity crowd appreciated Brazil’s efforts and that bodes well for the European finals from 19 to 30 January next year.

Opening win

Hungary made a tremendous start to their opening game, leading Croatia 3-0 at the break through Tamás Lódi, Norbert Temesi and Tamás Szente. Frane Despotovi? and Tihomir Novak pulled Croatia to within a goal but in the last five minutes Karoly Kovacsics and János Trencsényi put Hungary out of reach prior to Dario Marinovi?’s consolation. A Brazil squad largely made up of Spanish-based players took the Matchday 1 lead with a 5-1 defeat of Slovakia.

Slovakia succeed

The next day Hungary’s hopes were effectively ended by Slovakia. Tomáš Bagin and Peter Kozár struck early in each half and Ákos Harnisch’s own goal made it 3-0. Lódi pulled one back for the hosts but Anton Brunovský had the final word. Brazil moved three points clear in the table as they claimed a 3-0 victory against Croatia.

Brazil lesson

It was always going to be tough for Hungary against a Brazil side containing four of their World Cup final lineup and so it proved as Fernandinho scored twice in the first eleven minutes, and he claimed another two goals after Kovacsics pulled one back at the start of the second half. ElPozo Murcia FS player Wilde, Igor, Interviú Madrid’s Betao and Lukaian of MRA Navarra FS completed Brazil’s victory, while Slovakia beat Croatia 3-1 for second place. Top scorer Fernandinho was named player of the tournament while Hungary’s Zoltán Balázs won the best goalkeeper prize.

Coach pleased

Mihály Kozma, whose Hungary side began 2009 with second place in a tournament in Libya where they held the home team 2-2 and beat Albania 8-2, said: “It was a successful tournament for us as we were able to test some new players in a competitive tournament and we gained a lot of important experiences. We are closer to knowing the squad for the finals.” Hungary will discover their European finals opposition when the draw is made at 16.00CET on 24 September at the Kölcsey Convention Centre, Debrecen, one of two host cities along with Budapest.

Source : UEFA.com
By : Marton Dinnyes
Published : 9/4/2009

China will be hosting an international futsal tournament in June that could eventually become one of the major pillars of a continent-wide five-a-side circuit.

The International Indoor Futsal Tournament in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, from June 19-21 will also feature Asian powerhouses Iran and Japan, as well as the Netherlands.

AFC has already sanctioned the event, which is aiming to become a regular feature on the Asian futsal calendar, along with countries such as Iran, Malaysia and Thailand who host international annual tournaments.

The format of the competition is round-robin with the winners taking home US$6,000 while the runners-up earn $4,000. The third-placed team receive $3,000 while even the bottom side are not left out with £2,000.

Futsal is growing in popularity in Asia and there is hope that an annual circuit along the lines of professional tennis could thrive in the continent.

Source : the-afc.com
Published : 14/4/2009

Clubs from the FFV Melbourne Futsal League travelled to Geelong on Sunday to participate in a Gala Day to promote the sport.

Futsal Geelong and Bayside Pirates joined MFL clubs Cobras, Melbourne Reds and Australian Futsal Group in a showcase of Futsal talent which saw the Melbourne Reds convincingly top the U11’s table and Cobras top the U13’s table.

The Australian Futsal Group was presented with the inaugural Melbourne Futsal League trophy for the U11 and U13 categories respectively at the event after clinching both titles in February.

FFV will aim to have several more Gala Days for affiliated clubs in a lead up to the State Futsal Championships which will be held in July.

For more information on the FFV State Futsal Championships click here.

Source : Football Federation Victoria
Published : 14/4/2009

With the support of Football Federation Victoria, Victoria Police, Hume City Council and Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) a Coolaroo-based Futsal program has become a stepping stone for Hume’s multicultural youth.

Since its inception in 2007, the Hume Futsal League has created a social network for 12- to 25-year-old youths to learn and socialise while playing indoor soccer.

The league, which will soon launch a girls-only league, held an open day last Tuesday as part of Youth Week.

The 2006 census revealed people from non-English-speaking backgrounds had the lowest participation in organised sport and recreation. About a third of Hume residents are from non-English-speaking backgrounds.

Nick Mac Hail, sports and recreation project officer with the Centre for Youth and Multicultural Affairs, said the league provided an important step to more structured sports competitions, education and even employment.

“We found the greatest barriers to participating in sport for these people were cost, transport, language and cultural differences.

“Futsal was accessible for girls and boys because it is less about speed and strength and more about skill and can be played inside.” Mr Mac Hail said there had been many benefits for participants.

Four youths recently completed grassroots coaching qualifications and were now guiding their own teams.

“This is about a stepping stone for greater things.”

The Hume Futsal League has games each Tuesday from 4-8pm at the Progress Hall, Almurta Avenue, Coolaroo. Cost: $2. Details: 93403700 or 0422150017.

Source : Football Federation Victoria
Published : 13/4/2009

At the following link is an article about the Australian Joeys defeating Japan 3-2 recently :  http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/2009InsideFFA/default.aspx?s=insideffa_newsfeatures_newsitem_new&id=27146

You may ask what has that national outdoor team got to do with Futsal? Plenty. 7 of the boys on the Joeys team are Futsal players, and this shows that Futsal is a strong component in developing younger players.

Two of the u/15s Joeys are in the Futsal state team & Six of the team play in the NSW Futsal Premier league. The captain is Milos Degeneck who was picked in the State Futsal team and Connor Chapman played for Sydney Benfica U/14’s last Super League season.

Source : FFA
Published : 10/4/2009

Brigidine College has lived up to its reputation as one of the region’s strongest futsal schools with victory in the under-16 competition at the South-East Queensland Schools’ Futsal Championships.

The Brigidine side, which featured the likes of Bridget Paviotti, Shani Wilton and Grace Harris, defeated St Andrew’s 5-4 in the final at the Beenleigh Arena on April 3.

An injury to star striker Wilton early in the match was a big blow for the girls from Indooroopilly, but Deanna Iovenitti stepped up to score the sudden death goal and seal victory.

Paviotti was also on fire in goals.

Source : Westside News
Published : 14/4/2009

Cam Nacson did the impossible at the recent NSW Futsal Super League 2008/09 Awards.

The Sydney Uni goalkeeper, whose team finished third last, was named the best keeper in the youth competition.

“I think it almost gave me an advantage because they were firing so many shots at me.”

“Even though I let in a lot of goals I had a lot of saves to make,” the 17-year-old Bradfield Senior College student said.

Cam, of Lane Cove, conceded 86 goals but was voted by opposing coaches as the goalie of the year.

“It’s a nice feeling to win the award.”

“I really like the uniqueness of being a goalkeeper obviously, there is only one per team. I like being the special one.”

But soccer isn’t his only skill.

A musician and songwriter, Cam says: “Music is my life.”

“I’ve written more than 60 songs so far. I play piano, drums, guitars and a bit of everything.”

Inspired by Peter Murray and Jason Mraz, he was a finalist in the schoolies section of the 2008 Music Oz song awards.

“I love playing soccer and I hope I play until the day I die but music would take precedence because I just love it.”

His dad, Angelo, says he has an amazing ability on the pitch and in the recording studio.

“Futsal is a very exciting game and he is very skilful at it, but his singing talents are something out of this world,” Angelo said.

“I think both are important to him and they complement each other because the confidence he needs on stage and in goals are very similar.”

Source : North Shore Times
By : Joshua Levi
Published : 7/4/2009