SIXY FOOTBALL
It’s not the game as we know it but Romania are World Cup champions
IRISH eyes looked on as the Minifootball World Cup came to a conclusion in the Middle East.
Doing battle in the final were Romania and Kazakhstan, two teams who anyone would be stunned to see in the FIFA World Cup Final.
Kazakhstan have never qualified for a major tournament and Romania last played at the World Cup 25 years ago. They were also involved in arguably Ireland’s most iconic moment at the tournament in 1990 when Packie Bonner saved Daniel Timofte’s penalty as the nation held its breath.
But this is a much different game and one which is extremely popular in eastern European countries heading towards Asia.
Among the 3,000-plus spectators at the custom-built outdoor arena in Ras Al Khaimah, an hour from Dubai, was Emmet Switzer, President of the Minifootball Association of Ireland.
“It’s a cross between Futsal and 11-a-side football,” he told The Irish Sunday Mirror.
“There are six players on each team and we’ve had a great two weeks.
“It’s been an amazing experience. The people have been very welcoming.
“It’s amazing that you are lying in bed and you can hear the loud speakers outside calling to prayer and that’s just normal here.
It’s a cross between Futsal and 11-a-side... there are six players on each team
FAITHS
“It’s still very much a Muslim country, but they’ve embraced people of different faiths... they’ve created a very good balance where nobody is uncomfortable.
“They’ve put in a huge effort with buses from the hotels. They’ve a huge fan area here, the games are being shown on screens. It’s been very well run.”
Prior to the decider, Hungary defeated Azerbaijan 3-1 in the third place play-off, while the final produced plenty of drama with Romania winning 12-11 on penalties.
Emmet looked on knowing there is a world of difference between the funding and financial backing some of these countries have compared to Ireland, whose team was made up of a mix of players from back home and some based in Dubai.
“The one big issue we have is funding,” he explained.
“Some countries have no issues raising money because they work with their associations.
“The issue with us working with the FAI, FIFA and UEFA is that their remit is only 11 a-side.
“We met with Sport Ireland and they were great.
“It’s not that they just didn’t give us money, their hands were tied to give us money and that needs to change.
“What needs to change there is that we need to see small funding going into projects without the necessity to have sent seven years of accounts for example or audited accounts. I fully appreciate that you need to put the
money into somewhere that you understand it will be spent properly, but on the other hand there should be a system there to give money to small projects and small events that make
a difference. We have a group in Ireland that are trained up, but a lot of them haven’t come here and experienced it. They haven’t got that experience, they haven’t gained their caps
and we can’t have this happen again.”
Ireland made their own piece of history at the tournament by winning a World Cup match for the first time, a 5-0 win over Guatemala. That came
between losses to Mexico (6-0) and Georgia (10-1), with Emmet hoping the Boys in Green can push on ahead of next year’s European Championships and the 2025 World Cup.
He said: “It was really nice to get that win. I think the other scores didn’t really reflect the games. The Mexico match we made some errors that we wouldn’t usually make and I think the Georgia game just got out of hand, but we’re getting there.”
Emmet added that the Irish team gifted 100 jerseys especially made for the tournament to children in a refugee camp in the region.