Zurrieq Futsal Club

Slovenia won the tournament with maximum points followed by Albania with two wins, Greece in the third place with only one win and Malta in the fourth and last place of the Group 7.

The National Futsal team will be aiming for its first positive result as Malta hosts the Group 7 mini tournament from the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifying round. The tournament gets underway on Thursday with the remaining matches being played on Friday and Sunday. Matches will be played at the AS Hibernians Pavilion, Corradino.

Taking part in the tournament are Albania, Greece and Slovenia.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, NFA vice-president Ludovico Micallef said this will be  a difficult task for the Maltese side, considering that countries like Slovenia and Greece are ranked highly.

Slovenia are in fact one of the strongest countries in Europe and reached the final stages of the EUFA Futsal Championship in 2003. As part of their preparation for this qualifying tournament, they played two friendlies against Brasil, losing 3-6 and 1-3 in front of thousands of spectators.

Assitant coach Mark Marlow said Malta will be aiming for its fiorst positive result in an international game as Albania are considered to be more or less on the same level as Malta.

Marlow said the players have been working hard and showed considerable improvement over the past eighteen months. He appealed for full support by the public as this was necessary for the team to do better.

Captian Mark Ellul Sullivan agreed that these will be dificult matches but said the players are looking forward to give their best in the three matches.

The thirteen players selected by Michael Striz are the following:

goalkeepers Benny Gialanze (El Mundos), Bjorn Vassallo (Aluserv), and players Tyron Borg (Zurrieq FC), Noel Bray (Southenders), Paul Bugeja (Kerygma), James Ciangura (Scandals Bar), John Cutajar (Scandals Bar), Timothy Ellis (Powerade), Jeanbert Gatt (Scandals Bar), Robert Magro (Naxxar Motors), Roberto Micallef (Powerade)_, Nebjosa Mijailovic( European Pilot Academy) and Mark Ellul Sullivan (Amazon).

Malta is once again entering the international competitive fray. As from Thursday 28th February, the national Futsl team will be engagaed in the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifying matches.

Drawn in Group 7, Malta will be facing Albania, Greece and Slovenia in what will be Michael Striz's team an ardous four-day trek which wilol be completed by Sunday the 2nd March.

Our group opponents are ranked much higher than us and this will have our team fully stretched in order to compete with dignity in front of a home crowd at the AS Hibernianas Pavilion, kindly made available for the occassion.

Striz will make use of a squad consisting of individuals most of whom have already had a taste of international experience, not only on the big stage of UEFA competition but also in tournaments at home and abroad.

The following is the programme of fixtures:

Entrance to the AS Hibernians Sports Pavilion is free.

European futsal champions Spain will begin their bid to claim the inaugural UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament title against Slovakia, Greece and futsal debutants Switzerland after the qualifying draw was made in Nyon.

'A great honour'
Switzerland are one of two nations, along with the Republic of Ireland, to be entering an international futsal competition for the first time, and Luca Balduzzi, head of grassroots football at the Swiss Football Association, said: "For us, it is a great honour to be drawn in the same group as the current futsal world champions. We will try to learn as much as we can from this experience, and we will try to give them as much of a game as we can."

Finals tournament
Russia will stage the first U21 finals in St Petersburg, provisionally from 6 to 14 December 2008, with 28 teams hoping to take one of the seven places alongside the hosts. Spain will be at home in Group 3 in qualifying, while another former continental champion at senior level, Italy, welcome Moldova, France and Turkey in Group 6. Qualification matches will be played between 7 and 13 April next year.

Championship ethos
UEFA's futsal product manager, Laurent Morel, explained the ethos of the new tournament, saying: "The futsal committee has been pushing many years to introduce a youth competition. Futsal has had a top-down development in the past, and there was a need to create a competition allowing this discipline to develop at youth level to secure the future of the sport. With the introduction of this new competition, the national associations will now be inspired to work also at youth level."

Grassroots dynamic
Balduzzi says the Swiss are entering the tournament in that spirit. "For our association, it was important to start at youth level and build up a generation of futsal players rather than put together a senior team with some old players who would not guarantee us sufficient continuity," he said. "We see futsal as an ideal way to cover the winter period when outdoor football rests, and it helps to develop technique and tactics, which can pay off also for outdoor football. In addition, futsal is also attractive for schools and we will try co-operate with them."

European futsal champions Spain will begin their bid to claim the inaugural UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament title against Slovakia, Greece and futsal debutants Switzerland after the qualifying draw was made in Nyon.

'A great honour'
Switzerland are one of two nations, along with the Republic of Ireland, to be entering an international futsal competition for the first time, and Luca Balduzzi, head of grassroots football at the Swiss Football Association, said: "For us, it is a great honour to be drawn in the same group as the current futsal world champions. We will try to learn as much as we can from this experience, and we will try to give them as much of a game as we can."

Finals tournament
Russia will stage the first U21 finals in St Petersburg, provisionally from 6 to 14 December 2008, with 28 teams hoping to take one of the seven places alongside the hosts. Spain will be at home in Group 3 in qualifying, while another former continental champion at senior level, Italy, welcome Moldova, France and Turkey in Group 6. Qualification matches will be played between 7 and 13 April next year.

Championship ethos
UEFA's futsal product manager, Laurent Morel, explained the ethos of the new tournament, saying: "The futsal committee has been pushing many years to introduce a youth competition. Futsal has had a top-down development in the past, and there was a need to create a competition allowing this discipline to develop at youth level to secure the future of the sport. With the introduction of this new competition, the national associations will now be inspired to work also at youth level."

Grassroots dynamic
Balduzzi says the Swiss are entering the tournament in that spirit. "For our association, it was important to start at youth level and build up a generation of futsal players rather than put together a senior team with some old players who would not guarantee us sufficient continuity," he said. "We see futsal as an ideal way to cover the winter period when outdoor football rests, and it helps to develop technique and tactics, which can pay off also for outdoor football. In addition, futsal is also attractive for schools and we will try co-operate with them."

Source: www.uefa.com

Italy will meet Spain for the Final of the Uefa Futsal Championship held in Portugal on Sunday 25th November 2007 at 18:00. Two hours before the match for the thrid place will be held between the two losers of the semi-finals - Portugal vs Russia.

Both games can be watched Live on Eurosport Channel.

At present in Portugal is being held the Euro Futsal Championship. Eight teams are participating which are: Italy, Portugal, Ukraine, Russia, Spain, Romania, Serbia and Czech Republic. Some surprise occurred already during the first two days where Italy (one of the favourites to win this Euro) ended its first match in a goaless draw against hosts Portugal while Czech Republic (considered as the fourth potential in Futsal in Europe)has been beaten by Romania.

Till today all teams had played and we saw wonderful futsal and wonderful finishes, plays and tactics by these teams. The games are being transmitted live by Eurosport channel. The following are the fiuxtures and some results:

The Futsal National team figured in two training matches against the Czech Republic on Saturday as part of the training camp which is being held over the weekend. Each match consisted of two halves of twelve minutes each.

In the first match Malta lost 7-1, with Robert Magro scoring the Maltese goal. In the second match Malta lost 10-0. On Friday, in another match against the Czech Republic, ranked fourth in Europe, Malta suffered an 11-0 defeat.

Source: www.maltafootball.com

The Malta Futsal team will be travelling to the Czech Republic today 25th October 2007 to lay a series of three friendly matches, including a training match against the host country over the coming weekend.

These matches are part of a programme of preparation Malta's coach Michael Striz has planned for the Futsal team in view of the future competitive commitments.

The matches against Czech Republic are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the Saturday encounter billed as a training match.

The Malta team is as follows: Bjorn Vassallo (Aluserv, GK); Benny Gialanze (El Mundos, GK); Nicholas Bilocca (Amazon); Tyron Borg (Zurrieq FC); Noel Bray (Southenders); Roderick Caruana (Zurrieq FC); John Cutajar (Scandals Bar); Mark Ellul Sullivan (Amazon); Robert Magro (Naxxar Motors); Nebojsa Mijailovic (European Pilot Academy); Jeanbert Gatt (Scandals Bar); Paul Bugeja (Kerygma); Timothy Ellis (Powerade); Jonathan Sammut (Scandals Bar).

Source: www.maltafootball.com

Moldova had the best side against Malta, which were playing their first international friendly, and it took part at the Corradino Pavilion on Tuesday evening infront of few enthusiasts of the futsal game. The game ended with 3 goals to nil which were scored in the first 15 minutes of the game. The Maltese team under the guide of Coach Striz showed a lot of heart during the game and were very cautious in their play manouevers. They found it very difficult to penetrate and few chances of score were created from the Maltese although one or two were missed from lack of opportunism and concentration infront of the Moldava Keeper. Again one can say that the Maltese showed improvement with possession and good rotation although the Moldavans had the greatest percentage of ball possession during the entire game.

The goals came from Iaroslav Subbostin (2 min) and two goals from Olge Hiloti (10 and 15 min).

The Maltese team was made up from the following: Bjorn Vassallo (Aluserv); Benny Gialanze (El Mundos); Nicholas Bilocca (Amazon FC); Tyron Borg (Zurrieq FC); Noel Bray (Southenders); Roberto Micallef (Powerade); Jophn Cutajar (Scandals Bar); Mark Sullivan (Amazon FC); Robert Magro (Naxxar Motors); Nebojsa Mijailovic (European Pilot Academy); Jeanbert Gatt (Scandals Bar); Paul Bugeja (Kerygma Kristal); Timothy Ellis (Powerade).

The Malta Futsal Team under the guidance of Coach Striz will be playing a friendly match against Moldova next Tuesday at Corradino Pavilion. Kick off will be at 20.45.

The Malta National Futsal team will be facing Slovenia, Greece and Albania in Group 7 of the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers. The mini-tournament will be played in Malta in February.

This will be the second adventure for the team led by Michael Striz in international competitions after taking part in the UEFA Futsal Championship in January. Malta had lost 7-1 to Cyprus, 13-0 to Kazakhastan and 5-2 to Georgia in a mini-tournament which was held at the Corradino Pavilion.

Thirty-eight European countries took part in the draw from which five teams will eventually make it to the World Cup finals in Brazil.

The Malta National team and Futsal champions Jeepers FC will be taking part in an international tournament which will be held at the Corradino Pavilion between 28 and 30 September.

Also taking part in the tournament are two Italian teams - Ficarazzi 2000 and PU Misterbianco.

The Official Programme is:

Source: www.uefa.com

Friday 14th September

17:00 - 17:15    Introduction (Mr. Striz)

17:15 - 18:00    Futsal Laws of the Game (Mr. Striz)

18:00 - 18:45    Games by Best World Class Futsal Teams (Mr. Striz)

18:45 - 19:00    Coffee Break

19:00 - 19:45    Subject re Futsal -Theory (Mr. Striz)

19:45 - 21:15    Individual technique basis, physical condition, speed - practice (Mr. Striz)

Saturday 15th September

08:30 - 10:00    Defending - basic principles, forms, systems - theory (Mr. Striz)

10:00 - 11:45    Defending - on from our half: pressing - practice (Mr. Striz)

12:00 - 13: 00    Lunch

13:00 - 13:45    Goalkeeping - theory (Mr. Pisani)

14:00 - 14:45    Goalkeeping - practice (Mr. Pisani)

14:45 - 15:00    Coffee Break

15:00 - 16:30    Attacking - basic principles, forms, systems, rotation - theory (Mr. Striz)

16:45 - 18:15    Attacking - rotation, counter attack, power play - practice (Mr. Striz)

Sunday 16th September

09:00 - 10:00    Set plays - corner kick, kick in, free kick - theory (Mr. Striz)

10:15 - 11:00    Set plays - practice (Mr. Striz)

11:00 - 11:15    Coffee Break

11:15 - 12:45    Specimen training of National team - practice (Mr. Striz)

12:45 - 13:00    Discussion and End

Source: Schedule taken from www.maltafootball.com

For the season to come, seventeen new teams have applied to participate in the Futsal League for a record number of sixty seven teams in total.

Meanwhile the Association, in the nearby future will open again the applications for only its member clubs. Such clubs for their futsal team can use any player registered with the club, even if the player is a professional player.

Following the successful organisation of a Referee and Coaches Course in March 2006 under the auspicies of FIFA, the MFA will again be providing futsal enthusiasts with a three-day course on futsal coaching.

This three-day Futsal Coaches Course will be held at the Corradino Pavilion in Paola from Friday 14th September till Sunday 16th September. The main tutor at this course will be the Futsal national team coach Mr Michal Striz, with due importance being given to both theory and practice. In fact, due to this practical sessions, participants are urged to get non-marking Futsal shoes and other suitable sportswear.

On Friday, the course will kick off with an introduction on the laws of the game at 5pm and will proceed with excerpts from international games, general theory on futsal and a practice session on individual technique. The first day closes off at 9.15pm.

Saturday will include a full-day programme which kicks off at 8.30pm with mechanisms. In the afternoon, goalkeeping will be tackled, while the day will close off with attacking principles. All sessions will include both theory and practical sessions. Saturday's programme will come to an end by 6.15pm.

On Sunday, starting off at 9am, set plays will be discussed and explained. A specimen training session of the national team will also be given. The final discussion will bring the three day seminar to an end at 1pm.

This course is open to all futsal teams and prospective futsal coaches and will be free of charge. Closing date for applications is Monday 10th September 2007. Applications can be collected from the new MFA offices at Floor 2, Millenium Stand, Ta' Qali (opening hours: 9am to 12am - 4pm to 7pm Monday to Friday).

Source: MFA Circular 52/2007-08 available from www.mfa.com.mt

Season 2007-2008 for First and Second Divisions

After the withdrawal of Hibernians, thirteen teams (13) are taking part in the First Division.

FIRST Division

Phase 1:

The thirteen (13) teams will play one round. A total of 78 matches will be played.

Phase 2 Part (i):Championship Play-Offs

Teams placing 1-6 will play in the final classification for the Championship Play-offs.

Teams 3 to 6 will play in Quarter finals on two legs having teams placing third and fourth in the general classification will be seeded.

Teams 1 and 2 plus two other teams qualified from the quarter finals will play the Semi-Finals on two legs having teams 1 and 2 seeded.

The winners of both semi-finals will contend the Championship Final on one match.

A total of nine (9) matches will be played.

Phase 2 Part (ii): Relegation-Promotion Play-Offs

The teams placing from the ninth place till the twelfth place plus the two (2) teams placing in the second place of Division 2 will participate in the Relegation-Promotion Play-Offs.

Two groups will be formed consisting of three teams each. Teams placing in the ninth (9) and tenth (10) position in the general classification of the First Division will be seeded. Furthermore the two teams of the Second Division will be separated from each other.

All teams in every group will play against each other on one round bases.

Both group winners will remain in First Division while the other four teams will be relegated to the Second Division.

A total of six matches will be playes.

Phase 2 Part (iii): Automatic Relegation

The team ending in the thirteen position of the First Division will be relegated automatically to the Second Division.

Phase 2 Part (iv): Seasons 2008-09 and 2009-10

Season 2008-09 will be made up of 11 teams.

Season 2209-10 will be made of 10 teams.

SECOND Division

Promotion

The first placed teams in the two sections will be promoted and play a Championship Decider.

The two teams placed in the second place of both sections will play in the Relegation/Promotion Play-Offs with First Division teams as explained earlier.

Relegation

The teams placing sixth and seventh in each section will be relegated.