Courtesy: Wales On Line


Wales' futsal stars set for biggest test of their lives as they look to emulate Chris Coleman's Euro 2016 heroes

Wales thumped England 6-2 to lift the inaugural Futsal Home Nations Championship in December and are now looking to taste success on the European stage

by Ian Mitchelmore

25 JAN 2017

Head coach Richard Gunney led his side to glory in the inaugural Futsal Home Nations Championship in Cardiff last month to cap off a truly remarkable year for Wales following the national team's stunning exploits at Euro 2016.

And Wales could be about to welcome a whole new wave of poster boys as they begin their quest to qualify for Futsal Euro 2018 in Hereford this week.

Wales will play Moldova, San Marino and Greece in the space of four days in the preliminary round of qualifying for the tournament.

And Wales' futsal head coach Gunney believes the success of Chris Coleman's men in the summer tournament in France continues to inspire the entire nation as his men look to write their names in the history books once again.

"The success for us in the Home Nations competition was fantastic and it topped off a great year for Welsh football after the success of the men's team at Euro 2016," Gunney told WalesOnline.

"We're very lucky that the FAW have come such a long way in recent years and the Euro success has filtered all the way through Welsh football.

"The boys feel they can write their own history and keep doing Wales proud.

"The success for us in the Home Nations competition was fantastic and it topped off a great year for Welsh football after the success of the men's team at Euro 2016," Gunney told WalesOnline.

"We're very lucky that the FAW have come such a long way in recent years and the Euro success has filtered all the way through Welsh football.

"The boys feel they can write their own history and keep doing Wales proud.

Wales will play each of the three countries in just four days at The Point 4 in Hereford where only the team finishing in first place will progress into the next phase of qualifying.

And Gunney is in no doubt that Wales have every chance of causing an upset in Hereford as they look to secure their place in the next qualifying round.

"The preparation has been really good and we've trained well," added Gunney.

"We just can't wait to get started now. Moldova will probably be the threat of the tournament for us but Greece and San Marino are very good sides too. We'll be showing them all plenty of respect.

"The Moldova game is a cup final for us because they're very experienced and, although they're second seeds in our group behind Greece, they have some very talented players. They actually have a few players playing professionally.

"We played them about three years ago and went 2-0 up before losing 3-2. But we've come a long way since then and have a lot more experience in our side now.

"The games come thick and fast so there's no time for training once the tournament starts. It'll all be about making sure the players recover well between games so we'll be wrapping them in cotton wool to make sure they're fit and fresh for the following games.

"It will be a huge achievement for us if we progress because only the top team go through to the next part of qualifying. We're the third seeds but we'll be going out to win every game."


What are the basic rules of Futsal?

Both sides will pick five players (one goalkeeper and four outfield players) from a squad of 14 for each match, and are allowed to make as many substitutions as they wish during the course of the game.

Matches comprise two periods each lasting 20 minutes of actual playing time, and the clock is stopped every time the ball goes out of play and is restarted when play resumes.

Teams are entitled to a one-minute time-out in each half.

Goalkeepers have only four seconds in which to play the ball, with either their hands or feet, and may not touch it again if it has been deliberately played to them by a team-mate without an opponent playing or touching it. Goalkeepers are also now free to play anywhere on the pitch and throw the ball beyond the halfway line, which was not previously permitted.

Goals can't be scored directly from kick off and, mercifully, there is also no offside in Futsal!


Wales' UEFA European Futsal Championship squad

Naim Arsan (Wrexham Futsal Club)
Adam Hesp (Wrexham Futsal Club)
Warren Hudson (Llandarcy Futsal Club)
Chris Hugh (Cardiff University Futsal)
Lloyd Jenkins (Cardiff University Futsal)
Dafydd Jones (Baku Futsal Club)
Lee Jones (Oxford Futsal Club)
Jonathan Nelson (Cardiff University Futsal)
Simon Prangley (Cardiff University Futsal)
James Saddler (Cardiff University Futsal Club)
Elliot Thomas (Cardiff University Futsal)
Tyrrell Webbe (Cardiff University Futsal)
Rhys Williams (Cardiff University Futsal)
Rico Zulkarnain (Fitzroy FC)



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