September promises to be a massive month for Futsal in Australia. The 2016 edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup will no doubt enthral the many aficionados of the indoor game and, hopefully convert more than a few to the benefits of what the short-sided version of the game offers.
And, for the Futsalroos in particular, it gives them a chance to showcase their talent to the watching world.
For current Futsalroos skipper Greg Giovenali it’s another chance to don the green and gold and, all things being equal, lead the team onto the world stage much as he did four years ago when the Futsalroos came agonisingly close to making the Round of 16 at Thailand 2012.
“I am still in the excited stage,” Giovenali said. “It’s good to get the draw out of the way and see what we are up against. At the moment everyone is doing their own individual preparation as things haven’t come together yet, so hopefully when the team does come together everyone is really raring to go from the start.
“I don’t think it really hits you until you are over there. Last time it didn’t hit me until we got to the hotel and you see all the signs for the World Cup and other teams walking around, that’s when it sinks in. Until then it just feels like any other tournament.”
The precursor to the excitement was, of course, the draw. Held in Medellin, Colombia the official ceremony pitched the Futsalroos against World Champions Brazil, European stars Ukraine and African qualifiers Mozambique. It’s a group that, whilst promising to be challenging, gives the Australians a chance of progressing to the knock-out stage for the first time.
“It definitely could have been a lot worse,” Giovenali said. “I think, in the end, we got a decent draw. Obviously we got the top team in the world in Brazil and it will be terrific to play against them. Ukraine is ranked eighth in the world and is very experienced and very physical and is a well drilled unit. Then there is Mozambique, who we aren’t too familiar with but they have done well to qualify in a tough region. It’s exciting times. We are aiming to do our best and get through the group and I think we have the chance to do that.
“For Australian Futsal in general every tournament is hard as we are going up against full-time professionals and we are an amateur team that will train probably a month or two before the tournament as a group, so we are already behind the eight ball. Playing only Asian teams makes it hard as they obviously play a very different style than the Ukraine and the Brazilians, so it leaves us having to match different styles. So what we need to do is make sure we concentrate on our style, and get what we need to do done properly rather than focus on the opposition.”
That preparation begins in earnest shortly with Giovenali approaching his own World Cup lead-in with some coaching work as well as his own playing time. This will give the knowledgeable star a unique viewpoint as he experiences both sides of spectrum.
“As a player you don’t appreciate what a coach does and as a coach, unless you have played, you don’t appreciate what a player goes through,” he said. “It’s good to have a balance and I would encourage other players to coach to see the difference. It makes you think a lot more about what you can do to an opposition and how you can manipulate your tactics. But it all comes down to the players who can implement what you instruct.”
All Australia’s matches will be broadcast live on SBS beginning with the Mozambique opener on 11th September and Giovenali is hoping the competition catches the imagination of the watching public.
“It’s huge that SBS will show the games live,” he commented. “It’s great that they have come on board again. We know a lot of people are watching it due to the messages we received last time. It’s great that the games will be broadcast to a mass audience and hopefully it’s the start of people realising what Futsal can actually do as a sport nationally. It’s a good time slot so I would encourage everyone to watch before they go to work and enjoy it!”