Courtesy: www.nzfootball.co.nz

Futsal Whites take Trans-Pacific Cup

The 14-man Futsal Whites squad was named on Wednesday to compete in the OFC Futsal Championship in Fiji next week, the tournament doubling as the Oceania qualifier for FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016.

The experienced duo of skipper Marvin Eakins and goalkeeper Elias Billeh will return to Suva for their third qualifying tournament, while Jakub Sinkora, Dylan Manickum and Lucas da Silva also featured in the 2011 qualifier, where the Futsal Whites finished third following a dramatic penalty shootout against Tahiti.

Miroslav Malivuk and Brayden Lissington also return to Fiji after having played in the 2010 OFC Futsal Championship.

Capital youngster Luc Saker has been rewarded for an excellent season for club and country, along with Capital team mate Tai Barham, who arrives on the back of some very strong performances in the NZ National League.

Kareem Osman and Stephen Ashby-Peckham’s outstanding national league and international form will see them play their parts in New Zealand’s attack, while James Vaughan and Daniel Burns slot in after spending the winter playing their futsal in Australia.

Atta Elayyan will once again share the goalkeeping duties with Billeh. Together, the two custodians picked up the Golden Glove at the OFC Futsal Championship Invitational in Noumea in 2014.

Coach Scott Gilligan said coming up with the final squad was no easy task, after narrowing the training squad to 18 in 2015 from the original shortlist of 24 players identified at the end of the 2014 New Zealand Football Futsal National League.

“We made a conscious decision to work with this group of 18 players, only leaving the door open if we saw something special in a player who could enhance the squad further,” Gilligan said.

“All the players who have come before and have been in the Futsal Whites wider squad deserve special mention as they all contributed. Though it was not possible to have them all in the final 14, all of them deserved to be selected.”

Gilligan has identified team unity as the key ingredient in the Futsal Whites attempt to become the first New Zealand team to qualify for futsal’s showpiece event.

“The selected players are all willing to give their all for the player standing alongside them and this is never more evident than when they are on court these days.”

Gilligan is also encouraged by the form shown by the Futsal Whites in the Trans-Pacific Cup in December and the January Australian tour.

“We go into the tournament with a 10 game unbeaten run. This in itself is testament to the efforts put in by the players and coaching staff, Futsal Development Manager Dave Payne, and the backing and support of New Zealand Football.

“I am very confident that if the team can produce the performance levels they have been achieving recently then we will be very hard to beat,” he said.

But Gilligan is quick to point out that winning what will certainly be the most competitive qualifying tournament in Oceania futsal history will be a difficult task.

“We will not arrive in Fiji overconfident as we all know each country we will face are also confident of progressing to the 2016 Futsal World Cup. However we are all really looking forward to the challenge.”

The six team tournament will see the Futsal Whites play five games in six days against Vanuatu, Tahiti, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Futsal Whites squad – OFC Futsal Championships 2016
February 8-13
Vodafone Arena, Suva, Fiji
(Caps, Goals, Federation/Club)

Goalkeepers
Elias Billeh (44/0– Auckland)
Atta Elayyan (19/1 – Mainland)

Fixo
Daniel Burns (27/7 – Dural, NSW, Australia)
Lucas Da Silva (29/4 – Capital)
Marvin Eakins (capt – 41/20 – Auckland)
Kareem Osman (22/12 – Auckland)

Flanker
Stephen Ashby-Peckham (8/4 – Auckland)
Tai Barham (20/1 – Capital)
Brayden Lissington (13/1 – WaiBOP)
Dylan Manickum (40/22 – Auckland)
Luc Saker (7/2 – Capital)
Jakub Sinkora (31/9 – Mainland)
James Vaughan (22/2 – Auckland)

Pivot
Miroslav Malivuk (37/16 – Capital)

Management staff
Head of Delegation: Dave Payne
Head coach: Scott Gilligan
Manager: Richard Bell
Physio: Steve Heron
Technical Analyst: Simon Mead

Match schedule

Vanuatu v New Zealand
Monday 8 February, 5.30pm (6.30pm NZ time)

New Zealand v Tahiti
Tuesday 9 February, 8pm (9pm NZ time)

Solomon Islands v New Zealand
Wednesday 10 February, 5.30pm (6.30pm NZ time)

Fiji v New Zealand
Friday 12 February, 8pm (9pm NZ time)

New Zealand v New Caledonia
Saturday 13 February, 8pm (9pm NZ time)




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