Courtesy: NZ Football Federation Web Site


Futsalroos complete series sweep

Sunday 13 July, 2014

Match report by Robert Johnson – Capital Football

The Futsalroos showed why they sit 24th in the world futsal rankings as they completed a Trans-Tasman Cup series clean sweep with a 7-1 win over the Futsal Whites in Wellington on Sunday.

After dropping the first two matches of the series on Friday and Saturday, early goals again proved to be a problem for the Kiwis as Jonathan Barrientos scored in the third minute to take the Futsalroos out to an early lead.

Heads dropped again within a minute as Wade Giovenali slid in at the back post for an easy tap in to double the lead within five minutes.

A spell of possession and solid defence saw the Futsal Whites recover from the bad start, however the Futsalroos set alarm bells ringing when they scored twice in two minutes through Chris Polkinghorne and Jarrod Basger.

The crowd came to life on the quarter-hour mark after the Futsal Whites started to come back into the game and they were rewarded with a goal when Jan Fischer latched onto a squared ball to tap home from a yard.

This sparked the Kiwis to life as they created a number of opportunities to score again before the halftime break but could not capitalise, going in facing a 4-1 deficit.

After the break, the Futsal Whites looked a stronger defensive unit before the constant pressure from the Australians took its toll as they conceded 32nd and 35th minute goals.

Callum Smith grabbed a goal 60 seconds from time to finish off the scoring as he was set-up brilliantly by Giovenali, who looked to be one of the best players on the pitch in game 3.

Futsal Whites coach Scott Gilligan said the team paid for a bad period in the game and never really recovered.

“We had a bad 10 minutes and it showed. There was no belief during that period and they capitalised on it. Once we actually played possession, we created a chance and got a goal from it.”

Gilligan said a few “stern words” at half-time were exchanged and to the Futsal Whites’ credit, they lifted their game and started to hold possession.

Despite the results throughout the series, Gilligan said it’s important that his players understand they are in a learning phase and it will take a little time to develop.

“We learned some hard lessons over the three games but you look at where they are in the world and how they play and learn from them.

“These guys have been playing futsal, and only futsal, since they were young and have developed over a long period. We are in the learning stage and the results won’t come overnight but they will come in time,” he said.

“The performance in the first game showed what we can do.”

Trans-Tasman Cup 2014 – Game 3

Futsal Whites 1-7 Futsalroos (half: 1-4)

NZL: Jan Fischer 12’
AUS: Jonathan Barrientos 3’, 31’, Wade Giovenali 4’, Chris Polkinghorne 10’, Jarrod Basger 12’, Adam Cooper 34’, Callum Smith 38’

Futsal Whites: Atta Elayyan (GK), Joshua Stevenson, Ouadhah Ragued, Marvin Eakins, Jakub Sinkora
Substitutes: Dylan Mackinum, Ryan Batty, Kareem Osman, Daniel Burns, Jan Fischer, Hicham Kamri, Miroslav Malivuk, Bakr Al-Saudi, Elias Billeh (GK)






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