The FFA National Futsal Championships were held between 5-9 January 2015 at various stadiums in and around the outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales. The event was first class with competitions taking place between boys and girls in the under 12, under 14, under 16, under 19 and under 23 age categories. All competitions were tightly contested with some absolute nail biting high quality games taking place. In particular, the Victorian under 12 Futsal team caught the eye! Having been selected from 300+ hopefuls ten brave boys flew to Sydney to proudly represent their magnificent Sate. The team had been finalised some six weeks earlier leading to a thorough preparation limited only by a restrictive timeframe. On the first day of competition the team started slowly with a tentative 5-1 victory over the Tasmanians. It appeared the magnitude of the challenge and the States’ expectations were weighing heavily on young shoulders. The second day of competition saw the team fly out of the blocks against one of the tournament favourites Queensland, resulting in a 4-1 half time lead. The Queenslanders came back strongly however the Victorians showed great determination and triumphed 8-5 in a classic game of see sawing Futsal. Outstanding goals were scored by the mighty midgets – Todd Rogers and JP Cooper to seal the result. With the help of a quality recovery and growing self belief the Victorians took on the NSW Country side winning convincingly 13-2. Three wins from three starts was a terrific start and a 100% record which wasn’t replicated by any other team! The third day of competition saw the team cruise past ACT with a resounding 15-3 victory. This result was backed up with another hard fought win over NSW Lightening 4-2. These two results saw Victoria finish their group as group leaders – five wins from five games! With that record the pressure began to build going into the fourth day of competition – quarters and semi finals! The team earned a well earned time out from camp with a meal shared with family and friends celebrating Nicko Ts’ birthday. Into the fourth day and the tension was electric. The focused appearance of the coaches, the players and the parents told their own stories. Having finished top of the group the Victorians were to face a tough and uncompromising South Australian team and that was the type of game that played out. The Victorians had to dig deep and show significant resolve when going 0-1 behind. With the fluency not quite there the Victorians’ demonstrated strength, commitment and a desire to continue their dominance of the tournament. With a late equaliser the Victorians’ went into the break 1-1. In the second half the quality of the team came to the fore and they overpowered South Australia to win 3-1. Nicky K was a standout performer. Victoria was anticipating playing Queensland in the semi final however after a magnificent game that went into extra time the Victorian Country team rolled them 6-4 to progress to a show down with their metro counterparts. This was one of the best games of any type of football you could ever see! The semi final was an all Victorian affair – Victoria Metro v Victoria Country. The game was played with spirit and competitiveness however the Victorian Metro team were too strong winning 7-1 to progress to the final against an outstanding NSW Metro Thunder team. This team had been selected and training for this event for the last six months and they progressed through to the final with 5 wins and 1 draw in the other Group. The FINAL day ....... and so it was to be the two best sides in the under 12 competition facing one another for the National Futsal under 12 title. The final day proved to be a memorable one. The boys were privileged to play in the outstanding arena of the Olympic Sports Centre, a truly unbelievable indoor sports facility built for the 2000 Olympic Games. The attention to detail for the event was second to none and a credit to the FFA. The game was a see sawing affair that could have seen the Victorians up 2-0 however football, and Futsal, can be a cruel and unforgiving game. Against high quality opposition you need to take your chances and so it proved. NSW Metro Thunder led at half time 3-0 which wasn’t a true reflection of the game. The Victorians came back strongly and were the dominant team at 2-4! With time running out the 5 man attack was rightly deployed however resulted in the NSW goal keeper kicking the final goal out of his hands in the final second. NSW were deserving victors having played brilliantly for the whole tournament. The Victorians were equally brilliant throughout the whole tournament and valiant in defeat. There is very little between these two sides on any given day! The Futsal future looks very bright for Australia. Outstanding effort and well done to the coaches - Harry Amiridis and Jonathan De Biase for their meticulous attention to detail in preparing for and executing the challenge for the National Futsal Title. Set pieces, warms up, recovery, nutrition, feedback, etc – Absolutely no stone was left unturned! Unbelievable effort and well done to the players – No. 1 Carlos Karam, No. 3 James Norbury, No. 4 Declan Croucher, No. 5 Stefan Brecevic, No. 6 Todd Rogers, No. 7 Nicholas Theodosiou, No. 9 Dennis Menelaou, No. 10 Nicholas Kyranakis, No. 11 John Paul Cooper, No. 12 Caleb Connor Phillips. With Dennis, the competition top scorer, wanting to be a policeman and a number of these other young lads representing the VPSC in future events – The future looks awesomely bright for the VPSC, Victoria and hopefully Australia!!!
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 19:53:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015