England Futsal squad set for Euro Qualifiers in Malta

Pete Sturgess’ squad fly out to Malta on Tuesday for the Preliminary Round of the UEFA Futsal Euros, and the head coach and his staff want to ensure that the squad are in the best possible condition, physically and mentally, to tackle the challenges that lie ahead in Malta.

And whilst the Three Lions  will be buoyed by their increasing success over the past few years on the international Futsal scene, the squad are aware that qualification to the Main Round of the Euros next week is anything but assured.  

England may have climbed 23 places in the World Futsal Rankings during 2014, the biggest rise of any nation, but they still lie seven places behind Latvia, arguably their main rivals for superiority in Group E in Malta.  

As well as Latvia, England will also face Andorra and Malta, with only the top team guaranteed to progress to the next round.

But England may feel that they have the psychological edge ahead of the games having played and beaten both Andorra and Latvia in recent months during friendly matches. 

But as Sturgess states: "We will be taking it one game at a time, focusing on our opponents in Malta and ensuring that we play to the best of our abilities.  

Stugess took his side to the Main Round of the Euros in 2013

"Malta, Latvia and Andorra will really test us and we must make sure that we go into each game in the right frame-of-mind.  

"It will be an exciting three games, and undoubtedly the best team will win the group and get the opportunity to progress in the tournament.  We will do our best to make sure that team is England."

Last campaign England qualified for the first time in their history to the Main Round of the Euros and the squad will be keen to taste the same success this year.  

The winners of Group E will head to Bosnia to play against some of the strongest teams in European Futsal in the shape of Russia, Holland and Bosnia, so the England players will be keen to get an opportunity to face such talented opposition.

However, The FA’s Head of Futsal Simon Walker is not taking anything for granted.

"The England Team had an excellent 2014, and it is good to see that this has been reflected in the rankings," he said.  

"It was a particularly nice way to end the year beating both Latvia and Andorra, especially considering that they are our direct rivals in the Euro Qualifiers, but those were just friendly games. 

England have played both Latvia and Andorra in recent months

"Matches in the competition phase are very different, these are the games that matter.  Andorra and Latvia demonstrated in our recent matches that they have some real quality and if we are not focused, prepared and at the top of our game they will cause us much trouble.  

"We’ll also not be underestimating Malta, they have the home advantage and we played a tight game against them a couple of years ago."

A big week lies ahead for the England Futsal Team, and the nation will be hoping that the Lions can replicate their success in 2013 and make it through to the Main Round.

The squad

1. James Dalton (Baku United Futsal Club)
2. Ben Mortlock (Sheffield Futsal Club)
3. Agon Rexha (Baku United Futsal Club)
4. Richard Ward (Sheffield Futsal Club)
5. George Nash (Bristol City Futsal Club)
6. Ian Parkes (Bristol City Futsal Club)
7. David Jennings (West London Futsal Club)
8. Luke Ballinger (Bristol City Futsal Club)
9. Will Rooke (Loughborough Students Futsal)
10. James Webb (Loughborough Students Futsal)
11. Toluwa Sotonye (Reading Futsal Club)
12. Stuart Cook  (Manchester Futsal Club)                
13. Jordan Parker (Manchester Futsal Club)
14. Guillermo Wallace (Real Betis FS Nazareno)