Courtesy: footballaustralia.com.au

Zeballos aiming to make up for missed opportunities

Chris Zeballos may have missed the AFC Futsal Championships through a last-minute injury, but the Futsalroos star is firmly focused on making up for that lost opportunity by shining brightly and earning selection for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

With preparation intensifying, ahead of the final fourteen that will make the trip to Colombia being picked, the ace goal-getter is putting his injury woes firmly behind him.

“For me personally, if I do make the squad, I will be looking forward to my second World Cup,” Zeballos said.

“I have had some injuries in the last two years, and haven’t played for the national team for two or three years now, but I am feeling good and I am ready for the challenge.

"I have had to make some personal sacrifices; including quitting my job, so I am looking forward to this World Cup and, as I am the other side of thirty, it could be my last one.”

Despite having to leave his full-time employment to chase his FIFA Futsal World Cup dream Zeballos can see a future where talented exponents of the indoor game would not be forced to face such drastic circumstances.

“I think not having to make those sacrifices could come in the future, but not in my career, but I think it’s something that needs to happen, even if we were part-timers,” he said, “The F-League is a start and we need to take baby steps, obviously, but the more support that comes through from the FFA or children wanting to play the game, can only help the sport grow for the generations to come.”

The prospect of heading to South America is certainly one that intrigues Zeballos who, as the child of parents from that continent, has a vested interest outside of making the squad purely for Futsal reasons.

“I actually haven’t played in South America, so that would be a good experience,” he revealed.

“I have a South American background. My father is Uruguayan and my mother is Argentinean, so that would be good to go back there.
“To play against Brazil, the number one nation, will be a massive honour but this time around, trying to get through the group stages into the knock-outs stages is the goal personally, and for the team as well.

“There is a lot of excitement. We have a lot of new faces alongside some older heads, and I think we get along as a team. We are looking forward to going over there and improving on the results that we had four years ago.

“I think as a group we have a wider range of better players than we did four years ago and competition for places is pretty hot.
"There are a lot of young guys pushing for spots and overall it will make competition for spots harder and make the team stronger as well.”




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