Amendolia anxious for Ragomo return (AFC)
Elliots skills needed to take NSW Thunder to the next level at the AFC Club Championships
08 March, 2010
NSW Thunder coach Jamie Amendolia is hopeful Solomon Islands star Elliot Ragomo is back from injury for their do-or-die AFC Futsal Club Championship clash with Port Authority of Thailand on Monday.
The Australians have lost to both Chinese side Wuhan Dilong and Qataris Al Sadd to leave them bottom of the table and the only Group B side yet to register a point.
NSW Thunder need to win their two remaining games and hope other results go in their favour if they are to have a chance of reaching the last four and Amendolia believes the return of Ragomo would provide a major boost to his side.
“Hopefully we will have Elliot back,” he said. “He is a player that can create many opportunities and to lose your most influential player, it makes a big difference.
“We are still confident that we can come out from the next two games and perform very well.
“Our aim is to continue to play as we have played and we will see how we go in the next two games.”
Port Authority also need three points to stay in the hunt for one of the top two places having drawn one and lost one of their two games so far.
After a late Suchin Eamchalard goal secured a 3-3 draw against Pro’s Cafe of Lebanon, the Thais lost 6-2 to Al Sadd on Saturday and coach Udom Taveesuk believes his side need to learn to make the most of their chances.
“Against Al Sadd we lost many chances so we must think and plan again as we need the points,” he said.
“We will make sure we are prepared, we missed a lot of chances and we need to correct this.
“We need three points from the next match and that is what we will aim to get.”
Al Sadd became the first team at the AFC Futsal Club Championship to secure their place in the semi-finals and coach Fabiano Ribeiro has now turned his attention to claiming first place with a win over Wuhan Dilong.
“We came to Esfahan hoping to play well at this tournament,” he said.
“We knew it would be hard but I think now we can play well against the Chinese team and get first place.
“I always look to make sure we can have the best performance but we have some problems in the team like yellow cards and so to avoid suspensions for the semi-finals I will have a think right up to the start of the match and then decide who I will play.”
Wuhan team manager Sun Junmin wants his players not to put additional pressure on themselves by thinking of securing three points.
“I will tell all the players not to take the result into too much consideration,” he said.
“They just need to play well and do their best and not think about winning or losing.”
87 Comments
Mar 9, 2010, 6:25 pm
3:35 – Wetney finds Maloney in a big hole, but Kahki in the Pro’s goal is up to the task. From the kick in, Lockhart sprays across the face of goal.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:26 pm
3:15 – GOAL PRO (2-0). Itani breaks down the right hand side. Maiorana comes out a long way and goes down on the shot fake. Itani takes the ball another pace and rolls it into the open goal from wide on the right.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:27 pm
2:34 – FOUL PRO (2-2) Wetney is upended at half-way.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:31 pm
0:45 – Pro’s blow a great chance to go into the break 3-0 up. Vizzari and Maiorana aren’t able to stop the three-on-one, but Kawsan’s last touch desserts him and the ball is touched over the goal line with an empty net begging.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:33 pm
0:20 – FOUL PRO (3-2) Vizzari is upended just outside the Pro’s “D”
Mar 9, 2010, 6:33 pm
0:16 – FOUL NSW (3-3) Vizzari’s strike is batted down by Kakhi and Vizzari fouls trying to get the scraps.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:35 pm
0:16 – TIME OUT PRO. With a few seconds left in the half, Abou Chaaya calls time. From the restart, two shots on the Thunder goal yield no change to the score line, Maiorana up to the task.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:35 pm
HALF-TIME
———–
Pro’s Cafe [LIB] 2 (Abou Chaaya 7′, Itani 17′)
NSW Thunder [AUS] 0
Fouls: 3-3
Time Outs: NSW Thunder 15′, Pro’s Cafe 20′
Cautions: Nil
Send Offs: Nil
Mar 9, 2010, 6:36 pm
So what have we learned from the tournament Scott? In your opinion, how do we improve when we get back to our domestic comp?
Mar 9, 2010, 6:36 pm
I’ve got 15 minutes to (try and) answer questions should anyone have any.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:38 pm
It seems we are defensively sound although perhaps a little naive to the counter, but we certainly lack the killer instinct of the Shamsee’s etc, how do we resolve that?
Mar 9, 2010, 6:44 pm
my Thoughts for whatthey are worth:
Obviously, all roads lead to funding !
– we need more international exposure
– we need a 30 man squad training all year,,,one squad travels to one place, the other to another place….call it A and B
– we need to pat for coached (Spain, Brazil, etc) to visit us,train us, anf of course train the trainers (teach the coaches)
– it is high time our players decided if it is indoor or outdoor….this way coaches know ehat they are woring with and we can get 12 months committment
– Invite teams here and hold international tournaments….
these are just for starters…your thoughts?
Mar 9, 2010, 6:46 pm
PAY for coaches I meant to write…to visit us and leave a legacy…nothing wrong with our coaches but just like our players, they are limited by their time and commitment to the game..
Mar 9, 2010, 6:47 pm
19:38 – FOUL NSW (1-0) Vizzari is shown the yellow for bump near the touch line.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:49 pm
18:53 – GOAL NSW (1-2) Wetney beats his man on the near touchline, hits Wright to feet who feeds him back . Martinez makes the call on the back post unmarked, but as soon as Kakhi adjusts, Wetney goes near post to score.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:50 pm
18:38 – GOAL PRO (3-1) Abou Chaaya leaves two defenders in his wake to slam home from five metres and restore Pro’s lead.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:50 pm
As I have always said a national league that encompasses asia would be ideal, of course it means a large injection of funds but at the end of the day we do have a great product that needs a benefactor to drive it. And we need to bid to host the next available Asia club tournament to create even more exposure. Mark Seeto asked about a suitable venue, believe it or not the Whitlam centre with the retractable stands is the obvious choice, thats where the razorbacks in the old NBL used to play with TV coverage and evrything…and it has just been renovated.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:52 pm
18:02 – FOUL NSW (2-0) Wetney bumps into Abou Chaaya and he falls as if shot. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest he may have been corked.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:53 pm
17:44 – Takaji finds enough room around Wright to shoot and Maiorana does well to push the shot onto the crossbar.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:54 pm
17:22 – GOAL PRO (4-1) This time the crossbar is the helper as Takaji fires from 2m from touch to beat Maiorana with a shot that thunders off the underside of the crossbar and into the net.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:57 pm
To answer a question – what do we need to do? I’ll answer that in two parts the basics and the longer term.
Stop clock. We are breeding players who are rushing to get the ball, rushing to make every touch start the road to goal. You can see out opponents here taking their time because they know they have it. Stop clock for me would breed that patience inherently in the players.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:58 pm
14:19 Maiorana, by luck or good management gets down low to save from Fadel, but the shot from almost the goal line gets under him and goes narrowly wide of the left post.
Mar 9, 2010, 6:59 pm
14:10 – from the corner Takaji hits said left post which turns the ball away for a goal clearance.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:01 pm
Stop clock would also give us the mental focus for dealing with the international game.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:01 pm
Well as you know thats what the stats revealed when we first ventured into asia, the halves go for an avergae of 35-40 minutes and all we play is 40 mins in total. we are heading in the right direction with 50 minutes but stop clock is definately the ultimate aim.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:02 pm
12:47 – Giovenali pinches it from Takaji and dishes to Alpkaya who’s shot is blocked by Hammoud.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:03 pm
10:15 – Zeballos goes very close hitting the left post with the return going across the face of goal.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:06 pm
9:08 – GOAL NSW (4-2) Alpkaya gets on the scoresheet again beating Abou Chaaya and putting the ball over the advancing Kakhi.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:11 pm
5:43 – Wetney looks to be tripped on the attack, but the referees see otherwise. Zeballos is back there to snuff out the Pro’s counter.
5:10 – FOUL NSW (3-0) Wetney trips Abou Chaaya and from the free kick Maiorana pushes away Takaji’s stinging shot.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:17 pm
Internet playing up again …
4:27 – Wetney with another lovely stepover puts Zeballos in. His effort is turned away by the outstretched leg of Kakhi
2:55 – Vizzari is on as fifth man.
2:37 – GOAL PRO (5-2) One small mistake is all you need. A loose pass falls to Takaji who strikes true, but he also strikes his team mate Kawsan, and even then the deflection goes in to give Kawsan an unlikely goal credit.
2:20 – GOAL NSW (5-3) Matrinez pops in the scraps to restore the two goal deficit.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:20 pm
1:18 – GOAL PRO (6-3) A stopped shot from Dylan Maloney leads to a counter attack. Vizzari is no match for Takaji who this time plays to Kawsan’s feet for the tap in at the back post.
1:00 – GOAL NSW (6-4) Lockhart hits one from 8m to beat Kakhi to the right hand pigeon hole.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:21 pm
0:16 – FOUL NSW (4-0) Another scream and Pro’s have yet another foul.
Mar 9, 2010, 7:23 pm
FULL-TIME
—————
Pro’s Cafe [LIB] 6 (Abou Chaaya 7′ 22′, Itani 17′, Takaji 23′, Kawsan 38′ 39′)
NSW Thunder [AUS] 4 (Wetney 22′, Alpkaya 31′, Martinez 38′, Lockhart 39′)
Fouls: NSW Thunder 3-0
Time Outs: Pro’s Cafe 36′
Cautions: Vizzari 21′, Wetney 35′
Send Offs: Nil
Mar 9, 2010, 7:30 pm
well, apart from the one blow out, 3 fairly close games that may (or may not) have gone either way.
I hope noone is TOO dissapointed and that everyone has taken something from this.
Scott, you have been great, many thanks!
Please wish the team a safe journer back home and for you Scott, hope you continue to have a good tournement.
CM
Mar 9, 2010, 7:32 pm
Thanks Scott, the boys again aquitted themselves well with only one real blowout in the tournament, I certainly hope they are all judged on their achievements and experience they have accumulated and not the end result.
Well done Jaimie and Vic for getting the boys up for all the games.Good luck for the remainder of your tour scott and i’m sure the Futsal fraternity thanks you for being the link between Australia and Iran.
Safe trip home boys.
Mar 9, 2010, 8:05 pm
Unfortunately, NSW Thunder go home pointless. Compared to the resources that the other clubs have, we can consider this a reasonable result all told. It was a close run thing in three of the four matches. Port Authority and Wuhan Dilong line up next to put the last pieces into the semi-final puzzle.
It’s not just the teams that go home tomorrow. For me, I’m the referee for Foolad Mahan v Nagoya tonight. After that match we will find out which of the referees are sent home and who stays for the remainder of the tournament.
Back to the questions – sorry that half was action packed.
Again on stop clock, Jamie spends a great deal of time here, even with 90 seconds to go, telling the guys they have time, to be patient. Naturally, we are not patient because that’s not what our matches train us to be.
I don’t agree we need more international exposure (although it wouldn’t hurt). For me, we need to push ourselves at domestic level with games that are played at this level. We have guys with the skills to cut it here (and that’s not just my opinion). They just need to be playing like this more often and at home would be fine.
I also don’t agree we need foreign coaches (although again, it wouldn’t hurt). Guys like Jamie, Scott G, Knighty and Rob V know the game, can watch other teams and scope their abilities and learn their tactics. And that doesn’t include the vast wealth of top level playing the group has between them.
Longer term?
As far as killer instinct goes, in the warm ups here, one on one with the goalkeeper and with no pressure, we aren’t hitting the target. Our opponents are and with force. Greg and Toby were in Indonesia. That’s daily training. Our opponents are also a little quicker on average. Again, training. Professionalism. And that is financial backing.
For me, getting committed futsallers would also have benefits as lefty suggests – knowing who you are working with and spending your resources in the right place. What’s stopping that? Money. Players who need their football money to pay the bills.
But that’s just my two cents and I’m sure there are greater minds than mine out there with much better ideas. We all need to keep plugging away at it.
It’s been a pleasure to help keep you all in the loop. Thanks to F4A for providing the outlet.
Cheers guys.
Mar 12, 2010, 12:29 pm
R O T,
Having watched the NSW games live. Who where the stand outs of the tour?