Two Boomerangs men’s players have made the final touring squad for the 2014 Trans-Tasman challenge.
Futsalroo regular, ‘keeper Angelo Konstantinou will be one of the few experienced older hands in the squad that will expose a raft of younger players on to the international scene for the first time.
Cal Smith on the other hand, is one of those new caps that will make his first appearance in an Australian shirt whilst playing in Wellington over the weekend. Cal has been rewarded for a very impressive start to the 2014 F-League season. Angelo has been in fine form so far this F-League season continuing his strong performances at the Asian Futsal Championships earlier this year.
Boomerangs Michael Reeve was also in the train on squad for this tour, but has been hampered by injury over the past few weeks (and former Boomerangs Futsalroo representative Daniel Fulton is currently unavailable for international duty – having become a father for the first time just last week).
The Futsalroos take on the Futsal Whites at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington with the first match scheduled for this Friday July 11th with a second on Saturday and a third Sunday. There will be a break in the F-League season for this weekend to accommodate these internationals.
It will be a huge test for the Futsalroos under new head coach Rob Varela, with a significantly changed squad to that picked to play in the AFC Championships earlier this year. In 2012, and 2013 the Futsalroos comprehensively defeated the Kiwis, and it appears the selectors have taken the opportunity to blood several new younger players into the squad prior to the next round of Asian encounters.
Dural Warriors star Toby Seeto will lead the squad as captain while Konstantinou, and other experienced campaigners like Jarrod Basger and Chris Zeballos will lead the youthful squad (which also includes several younger players with Futsalroo experience including W Giovenalli, Polkinghorne and Niski) into battle this weekend.
Australian Futsalroos squad:
Angelo Konstantinou (GK) (Boomerangs FS), Callum Smith (Boomerangs FS), Jarrod Basger (Dural Warriors), Jonathon Barrientos (VIC Vipers), Jordan Mundell (Campbelltown Quake), Wade Giovenali (Dural Warriors), Tobias Seeto (C) (Dural Warriors), Sam Perre (East Coast Heat), Chris Zeballos (East Coast Heat), Chris Polkinghorne (Dural Warriors), Nathan Niski (Dural Warriors), Nick Starr (GK) (Dural Warriors)
Head Coach : Robert Varela