Qantas Futsalroos defeat Myanmar
The Qantas Futsalroos have begun their AFC Futsal Championship ASEAN Zone qualifiers campaign with an emphatic 6-1 win over Myanmar in Jakarta today.
The Qantas Futsalroos have begun their AFC Futsal Championship ASEAN Zone qualifiers campaign with an emphatic 6-1 win over Myanmar in Jakarta today.
Greg Giovenali opened the scoring early in the first half with a fine shot from distance. Myanmar equalised midway through the half following a turn-over of possession by the Qantas Futsalroos.
Tom Rogic, restored the Qantas Futsalroos lead after capitalising on a mistake by the opposition goalkeeper. Rogic tapped in to score his first goal, and on debut, for the Qantas Futsalroos.
Daniel Fogarty,who was a late inclusion to the squad, extended the lead with a goal on debut himself.
Rogic doubled his tally shortly after from a one-on-one chance after some smart interplay in the lead-up with Toby Seeto and Greg Giovenali completed the half with his second goal of the match as result of persistent pressure and good team build-up.
The second half saw the Qantas Futsalroos continue to dominate proceedings but were unable to find the back of the net. Fernando De Moraes did manage to score midway through the second half, after being set-up by Dean Lockhart, to further cap the Qantas Futsalroos goal scoring. Myanmar had a few chances late in the match to add to their score, but debutante Qantas Futsalroos goalkeeper Josh Codrington pulled off a number of great saves to deny them any further goals.
Speaking after his first competitive match in charge of the Qantas Futsalroos, Head Coach Steven Knight was very happy with his team's first up performance at the tournament.
“Considering it was our first competitive match in two years, and we had five players making their senior international debuts, I was very happy with the way the boys played,” said Knight
“The win puts us in a great position to make the semi-finals.
“I wasn't that worried about the number of missed chances, because I was happy that we were creating opportunities .
“We'll train tomorrow and look at a couple of things in the lead-up to our next match against Indonesia,” concluded Knight
The Qantas Futsalroos will face host nation Indonesia on Monday in their second match of the AFC Futsal Championship ASEAN Zone qualifiers.
AFC Futsal Championship ASEAN Zone qualifiers will take place from 20-25 February in Jakarta with the top three teams qualifying for the AFC Futsal Championships which will be played in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 23-30 May.
Qantas Futsalroos Squad AFC Futsal Championship ASEAN Zone qualifiers Tournament schedule 20-25 February 2010
Joshua Codrington (Dural Warriors, NSW), Roger Cua (Mascot Vipers, NSW), Fernando De Moraes (North Melbourne FC, VIC), Miles Downie (Sporting Club Vila Verde, Portugal), Daniel Fogarty (NSW Thunder, NSW), Rhys Giovenali (Dural Warriors, NSW), Greg Giovenali (Salaria Sporting Village, Italy), Simon Keith (Maccabi Futsal, NSW), Angelo Konstantinou (Boomerangs FS, ACT), Dean Lockhart (Campbelltown City Quake, NSW), Pat Ross-Magee (Boomerangs FS, ACT), Tom Rogic (ANU, ACT), Tobias Seeto (Lanzarote Tias Yaiza, Spain), Adrian Vizzari (Inner West Allstars, NSW),
Team Officials Head Coach - Steven Knight (NSW) Assistant Coach - Robert Varela (NSW) Goalkeeper Coach - Roger Cua (ACT) Physiotherapist - Michael Sette (VIC) Team Manager - Matt Sheppard (FFA)