Egypt's futsal team is all set to defend its title at the African Championship which kicks off tomorrow in Tripoli, Libya, Inas Mazhar reports Two months ago in Ghana, Egypt defended its Africa Nations Cup title it won in Cairo in 2006 by beating Cameroon in the final and winning the trophy for the second year in a row. The Egyptian national futsal team seeks to add to Egyptian football victories by defending its African futsal title in Libya, thus qualifying to the FIFA World Cup for the fourth time, in Brazil. The 10-nation tournament is the African preliminaries of the World Championship for futsal in Brazil 2008. According to the draw which was held in Tripoli on Saturday, the participating countries were divided in two groups of five teams each. In Group A are Libya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Cameroon. In Group B are Egypt, Zambia, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique. South Africa will play Angola in the opening match, which is one of the four games to be decided on 21 March. Others are Tunisia v Morocco, Egypt v Zambia and host country Libya against Nigeria. The tournament will conclude with the final match taking place on 30 March. The matches will be played in two venues: Cortuba and the African Union complex. The two finalists will represent the continent at the World Futsal Championships billed for Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 30 September to 19 October. It will be the first time since the creation of the FIFA Futsal World Championship held in The Netherlands in 1989 that two countries will represent Africa in Brazil. Egypt, the three-time winner of the African Futsal Championship, has made an appearance in the three last editions of the FIFA World Championship, in 1996, 2000 and 2004. Before acquiring the term 'futsal', the game was known in Egypt as five-a-side football which was practiced as a social activity among the nation's different categories who played it everywhere -- sports clubs, schools, youth centres and on the streets. In their free time or on weekends, veteran or retired football players as well as other sports officials and celebrities would gather to play the game for fun. Boys on the streets would play tournaments over the weekends. In Ramadan, most clubs organise futsal tournaments which attract the sport's super stars as well as talented youth who display their skills in front of a high spectator turn-out. The Ramadan futsal tournament has helped increase the popularity of the game. By 1996, futsal officially came to light in Egypt when the Egyptian Football Association hosted the first African Championship at the Cairo Stadium Indoor complex. Egyptian TV broadcast Egypt's opening game against Ghana live. The Egyptian team then included stars who had recently retired like Taher Abu Zeid, who entertained the spectators with world-class futsal skills which turned the Indoor hall in the days ahead into a full-house stadium. Backed by the spectators, the Egyptian team achieved impressive results in the tournament, beating Ghana 2-1, Zaire 13-2 and a 6-6 draw with Zimbabwe. Egypt won the tournament and made it to the FIFA World Cup finals in Spain. In Spain, the national team played three matches under the supervision of head coach Mimi Abdel-Hamid. Egypt lost to Spain 7-3 in the opening game, beat Australia 8-2 and lost to Ukraine 10-4. The second Futsal African Championship was also held in Cairo and was also aimed at qualifying for the World Cup in Guatemala in 2000. And for the second year in a row and amidst a full-house indoor floor at the Cairo Stadium, the Egyptians beat Morocco 3-2 in the final to win the trophy and qualify to the World Cup in Guatemala where Egypt finished sixth. The Egyptians displayed remarkable performances in the first round beating Uruguay 6-4 but losing to Holland 5-3. However, Egypt made it to the second round and beat Russia 5-4 to qualify for the quarter-finals. Egypt lost to Argentina 6-4 but claimed sixth place, an unprecedented achievement for the Egyptians in the history of the event. The Egyptians were trained by Ismaili's and Egypt's superstar Emad Suleiman. Following the African victory, the Egyptians also claimed the Arab Futsal Cup. The winner of the third African Cup of Nations in 2004 was determined according to a new system based on two-leg games, an away and return match. Egypt claimed the trophy for the third time after beating Mozambique 11-2 at home and 4-3 in the away encounter. The Egyptians qualified to the World Cup in Taiwan and played three games where they outclassed the hosts in the opening game 12-0, lost to Ukraine 5-3 and Spain 5-0. The national team technical staff was sacked and replaced by the current staff -- Mowafak El-Sayed as head coach, Badreddin Khalil as coach and manager Abdel-Badie Mohamed. Under the supervision of the new staff, the team won the Arab Cup the following year, in 2005. For Libya, the team has been training on a regular basis for the past five months, included taking part in the annual 16-nation Grand Prix held in Brazil in November under the supervision of FIFA. According to team manager Abdel-Badie Mohamed, participating in the Grand prix together with 16 teams was the best preparation for the Egyptians before defending their trophy. Egypt finished eighth. Abdel-Badie added that it was also a good opportunity for the technical staff to test four new players who joined the team. Head of the futsal committee at the Egyptian Football Association Hazem El-Hawari said that Egypt's primary goal in this event is to defend its title as usual. "We are the current champions, so it is only normal that we will go to Libya aiming at winning the cup and we know we can do it. Our record and our history say we are the strongest team in Africa and we are the favourites. "However, we are aware that we will face tough competition from hosts Libya. The Libyan team is one of the strongest, having trained abroad against European teams which make them a tough opponent. The Libyans have improved a lot in recent years and the game has developed and shown tremendous progress which made it very popular in the country. They also have good pitches and facilities. So, with a strong team and having the home advantage as a host, the Libyans will be looking to win the cup for the first time. "In addition to the host, there are also some other promising teams like Morocco and Mozambique who might be strong. But if all goes well and nothing unexpected mars the tournament, Egypt should win," El-Hawari added. Egypt's key players are Mahmoud Abdel-Hakim, Wa'el Abu Sultan and Ahmed El-Agouz. The veteran players who were members of the national team in 2000 will be making their third appearance in world futsal championships, making them the most experienced players in the Egyptian team. Futsal is an indoor version of football, derived from the Portuguese futbebol de salao and Spanish futbol sala, which means indoor football. Unlike association football (which has 11 players each), futsal is played between two teams of five players each including a goalkeeper. A team may have seven substitutes per game, which is usually played with a smaller ball with less bounce than a football. In Africa, futsal was popular in the north and some parts of the south, but gradually other nations have developed an interest for the indoor version which is expected to spread to every corner of the continent within a short time. The continent's soccer controlling body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), as part of it quest to develop the game on the continent, introduced the African Futsal Championship. It was first held in Egypt in 1996 and has since been played every four years. Egypt, which boasts of one of the best futsal teams on the continent, has emerged winners on all three occasions. Egypt, by virtue of being the African champions, earned a ticket to participate in the world event all three times. Algeria and Nigeria participated in the 1989 and 1992 editions in The Netherlands and Hong Kong as representatives of the continent. In some parts of South America where futsal is very popular, members of national teams have been graduates of futsal tournaments. Brazilian greats Ronaldinho, Robinho, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Juninho started out playing futsal. With Futsal spreading fast around Africa, it is anticipated that players at future African Cup of Nations would have been products of African futsal championships.
