Courtesy: OFC Web Site


New Zealand sets sights high at Invitational

Thursday, July 18, 2013

In the lead-up to the OFC Futsal Championship Invitational oceaniafootball.com will present a rundown on each of the seven teams who will participate in the tournament at Auckland’s The Trusts Arena from 23-27 July.

Today we are bringing you the latest on New Zealand who will arrive in Auckland with the objective of getting back on the right track for the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers.

Futsal development is part of New Zealand Football’s overall football development programme called Whole of Football. This programme has been developed to provide a unified pathway into the game and deliver a consistent experience to all participants. The programme also involves the on-going development of coaches, referees and administrators. New Zealand has 23,000 registered players in its seven local football federations.

NZF has put in place a men’s futsal league with eight teams from all around the country. The league was set up in 2010 and Northern Futsal are the current reigning champions.

The two previous editions of the OFC Futsal Championship saw the Futsal Whites finishing third behind Fiji in 2010, Tahiti in 2011 with the winners of both editions the Solomon Islands. Despite four wins and only two losses the team couldn’t compete with the 2010 champions who finished the tournament unbeaten. In 2011, the team was eliminated in the semi-finals against Tahiti and clinched the last spot on the podium after they won the 3/4th play-off match with a penalty shoot-out against Vanuatu.

Since 2012, the team has been coached by Sydney-born Scott Gilligan, who represented his country as a player from 1984 to 1988. After his successful playing career, he decided to keep futsal in his life and started a new life as coach.

He got his new career underway in Australia where he was crowned champion while coaching several different teams. In 2004, he won the OFC Futsal Championship as the head coach of Australia, qualifying for his fifth Futsal World Cup. Four years later, he was at the head of the Tahitian side which finished runner-up at the OFC Futsal Championship 2008.

‘’Tahiti were new to the sport in 2008. The speed at which Tahiti play and their dedication to learn as much as possible to improve is exceptional,’’ Gilligan said.

Despite a slow build-up, with his team coming together just one weekend a month, Gilligan hopes the side will perform at its best during the tournament.

‘’The players have been doing a little work in their region but as it is predominantly football season they are a little bit off the pace at the moment,’’ he said. ‘’Hopefully the team can play to the best of their ability throughout the tournament. If they can do this then they stand a realistic chance.’’

Recently, New Zealand has played international friendly games against Australia and Tahiti. They played the inaugural Trans-Tasman Cup against Australia in Auckland and losing the three games series 3-0 recording 0-3, 1-6, 2-6 losses. Earlier this year, they travelled to French Polynesia to play Tahiti and were again at the wrong end of the results with the locals winning the three game series 3-0 recording 3-1, 4-2, 2-0 victories.

After these last results, Gilligan insisted on improving the players’ mental preparations with the goal in the long term to make New Zealand’s players more competitive.

‘’The biggest change that is required is to their mental preparation, changing from amateur to professional. This is something that won't happen overnight,’’ he explained.

New Zealand will arrive in Auckland fresh from the second annual Trans-Tasman face-off in Wellington to participate at the OFC Futsal Championship Invitational from 23-27 July where they will share Group A with Malaysia, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands.

For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz






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