Futsalroos Head Coach Miles Downie has named a 15-player squad for the PacificAus Sports Futsal Series against the Solomon Islands in preparation for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand 2024™.
The squad featuring some of Australia’s best Futsal talent is gearing up for an exciting series of matches in Honiara, Solomon Islands, stretching across five days in February thanks to a partnership with the Australian Government and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, through PacificAus Sports.
Australia will face a Solomon Islands outfit – which has successfully qualified for the four of the past five FIFA Futsal World Cups- buoyed by their recent PacificAus Sport series triumph over the Solomon Islands where the Futsalroos won two of their three encounters in Sydney during July of last year.
The Futsalroos will now return the favour and face the Solomon Islands on their home soil on Wednesday, 21 February (6:00pm AEDT), Friday, 23 February (6:00pm AEDT) and Sunday, 25 February (6:00pm AEDT). The series will see the Futsalroos become the first visiting international side to play the Solomon Islands at the newly constructed and purpose-built Friendship Hall in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
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The Australian squad features nine players who trumped the Solomon Islands in their last encounter with the injection of Ethan De Melo (Football NSW), Jamie Dib (Football NSW), Atay Ibrahim (Football VIC), Ryan Jones (Football QLD) and Ahmed Sweedan (Football NSW).
Two new faces have been added to the squad with Football Queensland’s Ryan Jones and Football Victoria’s Atay Ibrahim both getting their first taste in the National team environment.
Goalkeeper Aaron Yu (Football Victoria) has been recalled to the squad and in line to make his debut for the Futsalroos following his outstanding form during the 2024 National Futsal Championships held on the Gold Coast in January, where he was awarded with the Open Men Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
The series also provides the opportunity to prepare for AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand 2024™ where Miles Downie’s squad will compete for one of four available places at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024™ to be held across September and October.
After breaking an eight-year drought to qualify for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand 2024™, the Futsalroos have been drawn in Group B alongside four-time runners-up Uzbekistan, 2016 quarter-finalists Iraq, plus Saudi Arabia who will feature in their third AFC Futsal Asian Cup™.
Head Coach Miles Downie expressed his excitement for the upcoming tour, saying: “We are all are thrilled to have the opportunity to play in the Solomon Islands and test our skills against quality opposition while experiencing the vibrant culture in the Solomon Islands.
“Since I was appointed Futsalroos’ head coach in 2022, my focus has been to assemble a highly skilful yet balanced squad to match it with the best in Asia and hopefully on the world stage.
“The recent National Futsal Championships in Queensland presented an important opportunity for the country’s best established and emerging Futsal players to put their hand up for national team honours and in doing so, made the selection process for this series a difficult task.
“I’m confident that the players we have selected for this series against the Solomon Islands will embrace this important opportunity as we build towards the Asian Cup in April,” concluded Downie.
The series will be live streamed via the SIFF Facebook page
