Frustration against Finland

England’s first international Futsal victory continues to elude them as they went down by five goals to four in the second match of this invitational Futsal Tournament.

Playing against an experienced Finish Team that fielded two players from the Finish Premier League and Jukka Ruhanen a former international with 14 caps, England had the opportunities to win this game with five 10-metre penalties. Unfortunately all were missed and a closely contested game slipped from their grasp.

As with England’s first game against France the match was unduly influenced by a poor referee who awarded far to many fouls for minimum contact between the players. As early as the second minute he awarded a penalty against England that mystified the whole stadium but after this it was the Finnish who were to suffer as their foul count accumulated to five.

In Futsal every succeeding foul results in a ten metre penalty and England then had the opportunity to close a 3-1 gap with five penalties. Regrettably they were unable to beat the impressive Finnish goalkeeper, Sarelius with any of their efforts and at half time only had a goal from Sykes to show for long periods of possession.

England instantly regretted their failure to convert their opportunities into goals as Finland added two goals to their total and a 5-1 lead. England refused to be daunted however by this score line and launched a comeback. First Moor Green’s Richard Follett caught Kainu in possession and drilled the ball past the Finnish 'keeper.

A well worked free kick routine bought Witton Albion’s Ryan Baker a third England goal. England pressed forward again and in the last minute Hasting United’s James Elford turned a stinging drive from Sykes into the Finnish net. Unfortunately for England the final whistle followed seconds later.

England finished this tournament without a win but will have been encouraged by their increasing competitiveness in international matches. A first win for Graeme Dell’s team appears to be increasingly likely as new talented players are added to the squad and all players become acclimatised to the demands, techniques and tactics of International Futsal.

Whilst all of the squad performed credibly, Dell will have been particularly encouraged by the form of Faria Jackson who has obviously benefited from the working with Tony Parks and Martin Thomas - The FA’s National Goalkeeping Coaches.

Alex Sykes and Steve Gallen continue to provide the team with the passion and organisation it will require to progress whilst debutants Husband, Szmid, Baker, Pudaloff, and Bridgewater all demonstrated that they have an aptitude for this demanding, skilful game.

The French Tournament also provided a debut opportunity for The FA’s own Nick Levett to gain representative honours and he will have been satisfied with his contribution in the two games.

England’s next matches are against Belgium in Brussels at the end of March.