Courtesy: gibfootballtalk.com

Swiss defeated as Futsal makes Gibraltar proud

This past weekend saw 2 International friendlies take place at the Tercentenary Sports Hall (TSH). With Switzerland having progressed into the Main round of the Euro 2016 Futsal Championships earlier this year, a tough set of fixtures were anticipated.

In the lead up to the game, Futsal Vice President Charles Robba had told the squad “I believe in this group of players, and I believe that they have what it takes to produce two top performances in front of the home crowd. At the very worst, we should only be losing by a couple of goals to this team.” How right he was. Not only were the performances of top quality, but so too was his view on the outcome (at least of the first game).

Friday’s encounter was a surprisingly tight affair, as Gibraltar more than matched their more illustrious opponents for most of the game. Disciplined in their defensive phase of the game was key in frustrating Switzerland who were finding it increasingly difficult to break down Gibraltar’s defence. Gibraltar had their chances going forward. With Lee Buhagiar, Andrew Lopez and Colin Figueras all going close with shots from distance.

It took a set piece to unlock Gibraltar’s defence midway through the first half. After working the ball wide, the ball was sent into the heart of the area where the unmarked Mateo Sego just got to the ball ahead of Christian Wink to flick the ball into the net.

Switzerland increased their lead just before the break, after one of their traditional moves paid off with a cross field ball from out wide, was speared diagonally through the centre of the defence. Yannick Raboud evaded Dylan Glynn and got just enough of the ball to take it round the advancing Christian Wink to tap into the empty net.

With seconds remaining of the first half and Gibraltar already on 5 fouls, Ian Rodriguez gave away a silly foul in the corner of the Switzerland area to give the Swiss a free shot from the double penalty mark (twice the distance of a normal penalty). However the impressive Christian Wink had other ideas and made a great save down low to keep the score at 2-0.

It was certainly a game of two halves as Gibraltar enjoyed the better of the 2nd period, pegging the visitors back for the majority of it. After a good piece of pressure from Jamie Walker, the St Joseph’s player launched on a 3 v 2 attack as he fed Naoufal El Andaloussi who played a first time pass to the advancing Duane Robba who hit it first time high into the roof of the net beating the advancing keeper, 1-2.

Gibraltar continued to push on and nearly equalised via a threaded thru ball towards the back post by Dylan Glynn aimed at Andrew Lopez just evaded the striker but ended up hitting the post. Gibraltar continued battling on and ended up deploying the commonly used ‘flying keeper’ tactic, sacrificing your goalkeeper for an outfield player in the hope of pegging back the opponent, whilst trying to find an opening during spells of possession. Christian Sanchez donned the keeper’s jersey outfield as Gibraltar sprayed the ball around, Switzerland remaining compact in their half waiting to pounce on any error and hit the ball into the unguarded net. Gibraltar were unable to muster any clear cut opportunities, although they did cause some panic to the Switzerland rear-guard.

The game ended with a narrow 2-1 for the visitors with the Swiss coach claiming he was “very impressed with Gibraltar’s game, and we were quite fortunate to come away with the victory.” Gibraltar took a lot of confidence from this game, and had renewed hope and belief going into Saturday’s game.

Gibraltar swapped shirt colours for the 2nd game, using their 2nd all white kit as Switzerland used their more familiar red strip. Gibraltar once again took the game to the Swiss, whose chances were few and far between. Gibraltar were moving the ball with confidence and looked destined to score, it only seemed a matter of time.

Christian Wink was again at his best keeping out an indirect free kick from close range, using his whole body to thwart the Swiss. Just as the game appeared to be heading into the break deadlocked, Gibraltar scored in rather dubious circumstances.

Good work from Ivan Robba with seconds to go, saw the wide player dink the ball over the opponent and proceeded to venture towards the Swiss keeper with Lee Buhagiar for company. The siren sounded then sounded with Robba passing to Buhagiar who scuff his effort into the back of the net, with the Swiss having obviously stopped for half time. After a few hesitant moments as all eyes were fixed on the referee, he waved for the goal to the surprise and jubilation of players and fans alike. The Swiss players, enraged, surrounded the referee in sheer disbelief at the decision, and rightly so.

Goalscorer Lee Buhagiar tried to sum up his feelings on the goal after the game “I can’t really explain the emotion, pretty much a mix of confusion, elation and euphoria. For a split second after the buzzer I wasn’t even going to finish it, but as the golden saying goes ‘Always play to the whistle!’“

The second half got under way in similar circumstances, Gibraltar on top of proceedings whilst remaining increasingly compact in defence. Midway through the half, Gibraltar doubled their lead. Talented front man Ian Rodriguez, took the ball, and with skill, beat the man leaving him sprawling on the ground. As the advancing keeper approached, Rodriguez was unfazed as he calmly stroked the ball around the keeper. Cue joyous scenes of celebration both on and off the pitch as Gibraltar were now 2-0 up. As the Gibraltar team celebrated by their dugout, Jamie Walker, clearly remembering the scenes which transpired in the recent Gibraltar v Macedonia U16 game, quickly rushed into the Switzerland half, thus preventing a quick restart.

Switzerland employed their very own fly-keeper tactic with 8 minutes remaining of the 2nd half. Try as they might, they were unable to break down Gibraltar’s regimented zonal positioning. Gibraltar hand a couple of chances to capitalise on the empty goal, but Hanafi and Buhagiar had attempts blocked.

With that the action was over and Gibraltar had recorded a huge win. Switzerland had faced top European Futsal nations like Spain, Hungary and Macedonia in the main stage of the Euro Futsal Qualifiers, so a victory over this team is no easy feat. Its testament to how far Gibraltar Futsal has developed over the course of this season, from the Euro qualifiers in Bulgaria to now beating Switzerland. The crowd at the TSH greeted the players with warm applause, wide smiles and cheers of joy.

All the players and staff can be rightly proud of their achievements in such a small space of time. A sport which is ever growing in popularity but has yet to receive the support (in terms of facilities) for it to develop and grow at the necessary rate to be able to compete consistently amongst Europe’s elite. Hopefully this showing has not only promoted Futsal on the Rock, but also convinced the powers that be that Futsal is a sport worth investing in.

The next thing on the GFA’s radar is a small matter of travelling to Lausanne to the Court of Arbitration for Sport next week where they will present their arguments to be accepted into FIFA. Should they be successful, both the football and Futsal sides will be eligible to compete in FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

In the meantime though, if you wish to see more Futsal on the Rock, the next games on offer will be on the 30th and 31st of May as the Futsal Rock Cup takes centre stage.

Gibraltar Futsal Rock Cup Semi Finals

Saturday, 30th May 2015, 15:30
College 1975 v St Joseph’s Neptune Marine

Saturday, 30th May 2015, 17:30
Glacis United v Gib Scorpions

The final will take place on Sunday 31st May with Kick off time yet to be confirmed.







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