The players aiming to earn New Zealand’s first-ever appearance at the FIFA Futsal World Cup have been revealed after the naming of the Futsal Whites squad for next month’s qualifying tournament in New Caledonia.

Coach Marvin Eakins has selected a group that has an appealing blend of youth and experience, fuelling hopes that New Zealand can claim a maiden OFC Futsal Nations Cup title and qualify for Lithuania 2020 in the process.

“It’s been a real challenge narrowing it down to 14 players and the exciting part about that is the depth we’re building around the country,” Eakins says.

At the core of the squad is a batch of veterans with Eakins joined by Elias Billeh, Dylan Manickum, Lucas Da Silva, Kareem Osman and Miroslav Malivuk.

But they will be joined by a host of exciting emerging talents in the likes of Oban Hawkins, Logan Wisnewski and Jordan Ditfort, the latter of whom was named Futsal Men’s Player of the Year at this year’s New Zealand Football Awards.

“I’d like to say it’s the strongest squad we’ve ever been able to name and there’s also been a lot more that’s gone into this group of players than in previous years. They’ve all had experiences within their own environments at a federation level and have also been part of the regional training programme for the past couple of years,” Eakins says.

The Futsal Whites kick off their bid to qualify for the World Cup against American Samoa at the end of October before taking on Vanuatu and hosts New Caledonia in their other Group A matches in Nouméa.

“Firstly, we need to make sure we get out of our group, that’s going to be a challenge in itself because all the teams have put a lot into their futsal and there’s some good coaches working across some of these other countries as well,” Eakins says.

“We’re pretty confident but we’re also wary that if you don’t do the job early on then you won’t be in the mix for the play-off games.”

While they are yet to appear on the biggest stage, the Futsal Whites have come close to qualifying for the World Cup on two previous occasions, finishing Oceania runners-up in 2004 and 2016.

In order to make history and go one better this time, Eakins has left no stone unturned.

“My experience over the last few campaigns in this region has given me a pretty sound understanding of what players are around and what kind of styles of futsal are being played,” he says.

“But there is a bit of unknown as well because the game is always developing pretty quickly. So it’s about pulling together what we can, some of the countries have been playing friendlies and we’ve been able to get our eyes across some of that footage to help with our preparation.”

The squad will come together for a three-day camp prior to departing for New Caledonia while the players will also be able to get game time under their belts in the Men’s Futsal SuperLeague, which kicked off last weekend.

Futsal Whites squad for OFC Futsal Nations Cup

Goalkeepers
Elias Billeh (Auckland)
Mohamed Sabri (Northern Comets)

Fixos
Logan Wisnewski (Waikato Rapids)
Lucas Da Silva (Capital)
Marvin Eakins (Auckland)

Flankers
Brayden Lissington (Waikato Rapids)
Dylan Manickum (Auckland)
Jordan Ditfort (Waikato Rapids)
Josh Margetts (Auckland)
Luc Saker (Capital)
Oban Hawkins (Southern United)
Stephen Ashby-Peckham (Auckland)
Kareem Osman (Auckland)

Pivot
Miroslav Malivuk (Capital)

Match Schedule

Group A

American Samoa vs New Zealand
Monday 28 October, 3pm (5pm NZT)

New Zealand v Vanuatu
Tuesday 29 October, 5pm (7pm NZT)

New Zealand v New Caledonia
Wednesday 30 October, 7pm (9pm NZT)

Semi-Finals

Winner Group B vs Runner-up Group A
Friday 1 November, 4.30pm (6.30pm NZT)

Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group B
Friday 1 November, 7pm (9pm NZT)

Final

Winner Semi-Final 1 vs Winner Semi-Final 2
Saturday 2 November, 7pm (9pm NZT)

Article added: Tuesday 24 September 2019