The England Futsal squad for this weekend’s Home Nations Championship in Newry has been named.
Head coach Michael Skubala has selected a 17-man group for the trip, which will see the Futsal Lions play hosts Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland to defend the title they won last year in Edinburgh.
Skubala has added some new and old faces to the squad, with U23s player Jonathan Alverez called up after impressing with Nottingham Futsal and a return to the group for Agon Rexha who now plays FC Besa in Kosovo.
“Jonathan is someone who has been developing well in the U23s under Sion Kitson and I have watched him a couple of times in the National League this season, so it will be a good challenge to see if he can make the step up to international level Futsal,” said Skubala.
“Agon has been away from the squad for a while now and has worked really hard behind the scenes to get back with us.
“We know Agon's quality and I watched him recently against Sporting Lisbon in the Futsal Champions League against one of the top club teams in Europe.
“It’s great to have this yearly event when we come together as home nations for Futsal - and for us it is important to have a four team tournament before we go to our World Cup qualifiers at the end of January.”
England will open their tournament on Friday 30 November (4pm) against Wales before they face Scotland the following day at 2.30pm. The third and final game against Northern Ireland kicks-off at 3.30pm on Sunday 2 December.
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The Squad
Mark Croft (Guardia Perticara), Jonny Sim (Helvecia Futsal Club), Joe Payne (Nottingham Futsal Club), Stuart Cook (Helvecia Futsal Club), Raoni Medina (Helvecia Futsal Club), Richard Ward (Helvecia Futsal Club), James Webb (Futsal Club Gambette), Calvin Dickson (Helvecia Futsal Club), Jonathan Alvarez (Nottingham Futsal Club), Robbie Bettson (York City Futsal Club), Liam Palfreeman (Helvecia Futsal Club), Doug Reed (Sussex Futsal Club), Will Rooke (Loughborough Futsal Club), Curtis Mason (Loughborough Futsal), William Wallace (Toulouse Metropole FC Bruguieres), Jordan Edge (Manchester Futsal Club), Dean Withers (Birmingham Futsal Club), Nathan Davis (Loughborough Futsal Club), Agon Rexha (FC Besa Futsal).
