Qatar 1-3 England & Qatar 6-6 England
Doha, Qatar
25-26 October 2013

The England Futsal squad were involved in two pulsating games against Qatar in Doha this weekend, but will feel a little disappointed not to be returning home with two wins under their belt.

England, currently embarking on a twelve month period of transition as they look to evolve from their recent achievements in the UEFA European Futsal Championships, had two friendly matches against Qatar which represented the first stepping-stone in realising Pete Sturgess’ master-plan of developing a more offensive and attacking squad.

And the embryo of this new ambition was clearly visible in Doha, as England scored nine goals in two games, but Sturgess will know that conceding seven means further hard work for the England squad on the training pitch.

The Lions started the first game on fire, snatching an early lead with Ian Parkes stealing the ball and firing into the bottom corner in clinical style within ten seconds to give England a perfect start.

Qatar looked shell-shocked and struggled to find any kind of rhythm to their play as England pushed and harried them from the outset, dominating the early exchanges and created a number of half-chances.

Neil Morgan hit the bar and came closest to adding a second as England applied the new attacking ethos and were reaping the rewards.

The second half saw the Lions continue their composure and control over the game. The neat interchanges between the England players was encapsulated by a flowing move which saw Byron Andew slide a deft pass through to Sam Murphy to hammer into the top of the net from an acute angle.

From this point on, England did not look in danger of losing this game and even when Qatar scored to make it 2-1 with four minutes to go, England immediately re-asserted themselves with James Dalton finding Andrew in space to slot home to score his first goal for England. The game finished 3-1 to England.

England looked to continue where they left off in the second game with Sturgess demanding more quality from his young squad. The players responded, with a stunning first half performance as they soared into a 3-0 lead through goals from Dave Jennings, Ian Parkes, and the pick of the bunch from Neil Morgan.

The Three Lions began the second half in the same vein, with captain Luke Ballinger slammimg home a well-worked free-kick.

At 4-0, Qatar looked in total disarray with England outplaying them in all departments.

But Futsal is a strange game and even with Qatar scoring after a break-away nobody could foresee the excitement in store for the remaining nine minutes of the game.

In the 34th minute, Qatar scored again to make it 4-2 and England began to look a little troubled by this threat to their dominance.

Ben Mortlock helped to settle the Lions with a well-taken finish to make it 5-2 with only five minutes to go, but Qatar had other ideas as they scored two goals in quick succession after sloppy defensive play from England.

And they incredibly levelled the game with a well-worked goal to make it 5-5 with three minutes still to play. England looked in serious danger of throwing this game away, before Parkes scored his second of the game to make it 6-5.

Surely the Lions could hold on and see out the game from here?

But with one minute remaining and following a barrage of Qatari pressure, the English defence wilted to concede one final goal to cap an incredible recovery from the home team to draw the game 6-6.

The England squad were stunned and this second game felt more like a defeat. Of course, no team should squander such a commanding lead, but with the England team going through a transitional period as they adapt to a new playing style there will be a number of bumps in the road on their way to a brighter future.

Putting it into perspective, a win and a draw away from home against a Qatar team 11 places higher in the world rankings represents a positive return from these two matches.

Let’s hope the England squad continue to take positive strides forward in their next two upcoming home friendly internationals against Lithuania in London at the end of November.

England squad: James Dalton, Ben Mortlock, Jason Kilbride, Doug Reed, Byron Andrew, Ian Parkes, Alfee Robbins, Luke Ballinger, Will Rooke, Neil Morgan, Sam Murphy, James Webb, Curtis Holmes, David Jennings.