Decided to post the pics and report on the above tourney here, for archiving purposes...
Dear fellow gooners...
Pls find my report on our participation in the Engitex '06 Futsal Tournament...
Sat, 7 Jan 2006
Matches were played on an outdoor handball court (which meant it was closer to Street Soccer than Futsal) and it rained pretty much the whole day. So that's two things that we weren't used to. Virtually everyone was afraid of falling, especially face first.
Group Matches
1. South Korea 0 - 4 Togo
Have to admit, as a whole, we played badly. The disappearance of one of our players just before the match didn't help (he had a valid reason anyway, so that's okay). However, I feel there is no shame in losing to a team comprising of taller, fitter students from the Middle East (Iran, I think, based on their jerseys) who in all probability, plays everyday. They did beat France 7-0 and eventually finished top of our group with maximum points and no goals conceded. Besides, one of their goals were scored by one of us....hihi....
2. South Korea 1 - 1 France
France was represented by one of AC Milan Fan Club's teams. They also lost their first match so this was a pretty much a do-or-die match for both teams. We played much better, especially in the second half. They stole a goal in the first half, but we replied well and our goal in the second half was well taken by Yus. However, a draw was not what we were looking for.
After the match, we realised we still had a chance to go to the knockout stages but we had to see what happens in the match between Togo and France before we knew needed to be done in our final game against Switzerland. Some of us were saying if Togo lost (which was a possibility since they had already qualified), then we might as well go home because then it would go down to goal difference where we would be at a disadvantage because of our earlier big loss. As it turned out, Togo thrashed France. Maybe they listened to Moe who wished them luck just before their match...hihi...
3. South Korea 0 - 0 Switzerland
The final match of the group. Togo were already Group G Champions and France were out. South Korea needed to win, by any margin, to overtake Switzerland (comprised of Malaysian UIA students) as group runnersup. Switzerland just needed a draw. So from the outset, our strategy was to attack and theirs was to defend. And that was pretty much what happened. We were the ones making all the attacking moves and they were content in soaking the pressure and try counter-attacks. Except for one fluke attempt that was deflected onto our crossbar early in the game and another long range shot that went wide in the second half, they did nothing else. However, despite our superior possesion, we just could not score.
This was definitely our best game considering the number of chances we had, but the slippery pitch and plain bad luck meant it was not to be our day.
Finished 3rd in Group G with 2 points, behind Togo (9 points) and Switzerland (4 points). Overall, we played ok, considering that we were playing outdoors on cement, on a wet day, and the limited practice we had. We could have gone on to play in the second day, all we needed was 1 goal....I believe all the players feel the same way. But what we all definitely agree on is that 1, we had fun and 2, this was a good start for us. Not a single one of us regretted volunteering for this Futsal tournament.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players, namely Alex, Azman, Kavi, Moe, Shairul, Shahril (who replaced Fadzli), Vinod, and Yus. Thanks for making this a memorable event and thanks for your cooperation. I hope you all were satisfied with your playing time and my own performance as the goalkeeper.
To Faizal, I'm sorry, I only read your email this morning. At any rate, we already had a full squad. Next time, bro. This goes out to Fadzli as well.
